What is upcycling?
Upcycling is the process of using waste in its existing form to create new products. Recycling, by contrast, breaks the material down (e.g., a plastic bottle is turned into plastic pellets) so that material can then be reformed into new products. With upcycling, the waste is simply cleaned and shaped, sewn or fused into new products like backpacks, messenger bags, lunch boxes, school supplies, shower curtains, and kites.
Upcycling is a relatively new term describing the preferred way for recycling materials. When the product(s) of recycling are as good or better quality than the original product, it is considered an upcycled product. EET’s Arctic Blend® recycled antifreeze products are aptly referred to as upcycled, as they meet, and often beat, the internationally recognized standards for antifreeze made from virgin materials. Each batch of Arctic Blend® antifreeze is tested for conformance to specifications. The results of these tests are documented in a Certificate of Compliance and provided with each shipment. In addition, EET’s antifreeze recycling systems, when operated according to procedure, are designed to produce upcycled antifreeze products.
Upcycling is a process in which disposable or discarded items are repurposed to make them valuable, useful, or simply aesthetically pleasing. Upcycling is designed to work in opposition to consumer culture, encouraging people to think of new and innovative ways to use things, instead of simply buying new consumer goods. It also benefits the environment, by promoting reuse over discarding whenever possible. As most poor people are aware, upcycling has been practiced for centuries, and factories have long used innovative upcycling techniques to ensure that nothing they handle goes to waste. For example, grain processors often burn waste materials like husks and stems to power their plants, thereby eliminating waste and making their operations more efficient. The concept of upcycling for the average consumer was popularized in a 2002 book, Cradle to Cradle, which was designed to get people to rethink the way they use and relate to things. There are all sorts of examples of upcycling, rang
Upcycling is reusing items that would normally be headed to the garbage dump and giving them a new purpose. Examples would be plastic bags that are used to create new reusable handbags, wallets, placemats, etc. Incandescent light bulbs that are re-purposed into mini animal habitats. How does upcycling differ from recycling? Recycling involves taking a manufactured product that has been “used up” and breaking it down mechanically/chemically to its basic, raw/crude state and then remanufacturing it into other items. Upcycling takes the “used up” manufactured item and fashions new items from it with usually no more than altering its current form. Upcycling avoids the waste by-products of recycling.
