Growing interest in sustainable materials has led to increased efforts to investigate waste‐derived triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs), using discarded materials such as plastics, agro‐residues, and textiles as tribo‐layers to transform waste into functional energy harvesters. In this study, we present a flexible and sustainable TENG fabricated through upcycling of waste materials and 3D printing (3DP). Discarded polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic bottles were recycled into 3D‐printed tribo‐positive layers, and graphite from discarded batteries was recovered as a conductive ink for the electrode. Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) was used as a tribo‐negative layer to produce ReWearSense TENG, which delivered high electrical outputs, including an open‐circuit voltage of up to ≈130.8 V and a short‐circuit current of up to ≈112 μA, with a peak power density of 33.84 μW/cm 2 at 700 kΩ load. ReWearSense TENG exhibited excellent durability, sustaining 10,000 cyclic loadings without performance degradation. Practical utility was demonstrated by charging capacitors (1–33 μF) via a rectified output, attaining sufficient stored energy to drive low‐power electronics. Outcomes of this study underscore a sustainable route for energy harvesting and self‐powered sensing by synergistically integrating recycled polymers, e‐waste carbon electrodes, and 3DP to transform selected waste streams into functional energy harvesters with circular‐materials integration.
Rashid et al. (2026) studied this question.