Upcycling is the transformation of unwanted materials or products into new materials or products that are perceived to be of greater quality or value. It is the opposite of downcycling, which is the conversion of materials or products into new materials that may be regarded as having a lesser quality and value. Both upcycling and downcycling can be regarded as forms recycling, when the term is used in a broad sense.
The benefits upcycling are similar to those of downcycling. One is that it reduces the extraction of natural resources, such as trees, petroleum and rare metals. A second is that it can reduce harmful emissions, including greenhouse gases, from manufacturing and transporting new products. A third is that it can reduce trash that contaminates the oceans and other waterbodies or that fills up landfills.
Upcycling has long been used, particularly in developing countries, for economic reasons, that is, for obtaining new products at minimal cost. However, it has also been growing rapidly in the developed economies during this century as a result of the mounting concern about the environment and the consequent surge in interest in environmentally-friendly products. A major focus of innovation has become developing new technologies for low cost upcycling on an industrial scale.
A few examples of the many types of products and materials that can be upcycled include old clothes being cut up into pieces to make quilts, using discarded food and agricultural waste to make animal food and biofuels, using old cans as planters, grinding up old tires to use as a component in pavement materials, using discarded wood to create high quality furniture, making lead-free cooking utensils from discarded aluminum products, and using unwanted wooden crates as shelving.