These textiles are handmade in Mexico from used plastic shopping bags. Designer Michelle Baggerman developed the process of making fine yarn from plastic bags in her project ‘Precious Waste’. With support from Mexican NGO Anundando, the technique is now being used in various communities in Mexico. The products are developed together with artisans, creating a new impulse for traditional crafts while also addressing the country’s growing plastic waste problem.

This project is currently on display at Dutch Design Week 2015 (DDW) at the Ketelhuisplein location and is sponsored by ABN AMRO. As a main sponsor, ABN AMRO wants to give young designers a stage – literally. To this end, the bank has teamed up with Van Eijk & Van der Lubbe and has set up ABN AMRO hotspots in the city of Eindhoven this DDW, where designers will be able to present themselves. A permanent platform has been designed for the central lobby of ABN AMRO’s office on Vestdijk, also in Eindhoven. This office building has been refurbished in 2013 with the help of 36 young designers, under the curatorship of Miriam van der Lubbe.

The giant, one-metre high wing nut that adorns the hotspots symbolises the joining of forces and setting things in motion, which ties in with the goals of the hotspots: bringing young, talented designers into contact with other parties.