Forming portion of an article from fabrication scrap, and products thereof

A method comprising:

• distributing material scraps on a first carrier panel so as to form a recovered material layer from the distributed material scraps, wherein
• the material scraps include thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) particles having areas of 250 square millimeters or less, the TPU particles formed from resized TPU remnants,
• the material scraps include additional material particles having areas of 250 square millimeters or less, the additional material particles formed from resized remnants of at least one other type of material,
• the TPU particles and the additional material particles are commingled in the recovered material layer, and
• the first carrier panel has an area at least as large as an area of a flattened shell of a footwear upper;
• placing a second carrier panel over the recovered material layer so as to situate the recovered material layer between the first and second carrier panels, wherein the second carrier panel has an area at least as large as the area of the flattened shell of the footwear upper;
• simultaneously applying heat and pressure to the first and second carrier panels having the recovered material layer situated between the first and second carrier panels so as to melt the resized TPU remnants;
• allowing the recovered material layer to cool and form a pliable composite panel, and wherein the composite panel comprises the recovered material layer bonded to the first carrier panel and to the second carrier panel;
• and
• forming the footwear upper from at least a portion of the pliable composite panel.