Litterbugs: a micro-world where plastic waste mimics insect life
Litterbugs explores the curious overlap between two conditions that usually go unnoticed: the quiet disappearance of insects and the steady accumulation of plastic waste. By bringing the two together, Henk Loorbach’s project reframes them as parallel micro-worlds, one fading, the other expanding, both embedded in everyday surroundings.
The series consists of insect-like figures assembled from found plastic fragments collected from beaches and urban environments. Bottle caps, straws, fishing line, and other discarded objects are cut, combined, and reconfigured into small, hybrid creatures. Rather than fully disguising their origin, the pieces remain recognisable, allowing familiar items to take on new roles. There is a certain logic to how each ‘insect’ comes together, though the process often begins simply by noticing a shape or detail that suggests a form.
all images courtesy of Henk Loorbach
Loorbach reshapes plastic waste into a new taxonomy of insects
Each piece is housed in a reused container, cigar boxes, drawers, or frames, adapted into display cases. This method recalls natural history collections, but with a slight shift in meaning. Instead of preserving biological specimens, these cases frame objects made from materials typically considered disposable. The result sits somewhere between classification and improvisation, with no strict taxonomy guiding the arrangement.
Material and scale play a central role. The small size of the works invites closer inspection, echoing the way both insects and microplastics tend to escape immediate attention. Surfaces remain textured and layered, carrying traces of previous use while forming new compositions. In this way, the project doesn’t just reuse material, it lets that material speak a little.
Designer Henk Loorbach turns excess plastic into representations of what is becoming scarce, establishing a quiet but pointed relationship between production and loss. Litterbugs suggests that what we throw away and what we risk losing may be more closely connected than they first appear.
plastic waste is reassembled into small insect-like forms
discarded fragments take on new roles as hybrid creatures
found materials are cut, combined, and recomposed
the insect sculprures retain traces of their previous life as waste
plastic fragments form a new kind of micro-ecology
reused containers become display cases for each piece
bottle caps and straws become structural elements
cigar boxes and drawers frame the objects as collections
waste replaces biological specimens in these displays
each object begins with a detail that suggests a form
familiar items remain visible within each composition
small-scale objects invite close observation
waste is transformed into representations of what is disappearing
project info:
name: Litterbugs
designer: Henk Loorbach | @henkloorbach
designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.
edited by: christina vergopoulou | designboom
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