Material tinkering is an approach towards understanding the functional and expressive properties of materials for application in design, involving a "hands on" procedure, based on a "trial and error" development. Typically, from material tinkering small demonstrator are produced, which could then evolve into production or more frequently serve as test samples to investigate the potential of the material obtained. This is particularly useful in the case of materials obtained from waste, upon which some value has to be conferred, in an "upcycling" (opposite to "recycling") process, therefore resulting in objects able to become of some affection to the prospective user, therefore coming out of the condition of "refuse".