Waste-Driven Design (WDD): A Transdisciplinary Approach to Raw Material Development—A Case Study on Transforming Food Packaging Waste into a Second-Generation Material

Davide Crippa (), Carmen Digiorgio Giannitto, Barbara Di Prete and Massimiliano Cason Villa
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Davide Crippa: Department of Design Cultures, Università Iuav di Venezia, 30135 Venice, Italy
Carmen Digiorgio Giannitto: Department of Design Cultures, Università Iuav di Venezia, 30135 Venice, Italy
Barbara Di Prete: Department of Design Cultures, Università Iuav di Venezia, 30135 Venice, Italy
Massimiliano Cason Villa: Department of Design Cultures, Università Iuav di Venezia, 30135 Venice, Italy

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 20, 1-24

Abstract: This paper investigates the design potential of post-consumer plastic waste through the Waste Driven Design (WDD) method, developed at IUAV University of Venice and implemented in both experimental and semi-industrial contexts. WDD proposes a situated and transdisciplinary approach, where waste is no longer regarded as a material to be discarded, but as a resource to be explored, transformed, and valorised. Using the Marble CAP case study—a new material derived from non-recyclable food packaging—the paper presents an iterative and scalable design process that combines technical experimentation, material storytelling, and application potential. The stages of the process are examined, from waste collection and cataloguing to the production of pressed sheets, which are tested under various conditions and finishes. The results demonstrate how, in design, material can become a catalyst for new aesthetics, languages, and production chains. Rather than concluding with the formal outcome, the project opens up spaces for critical and operational interventions along the supply chain, highlighting how design can contribute to imagining and activating alternative trajectories for waste transformation.

Keywords: waste-based materials; waste-driven design; post-consumer waste; material design; circular economy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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