Upcycling

Upcycling is the process of changing an old item—particularly one that would otherwise be thrown into the trash or recycling—into something new and useful. The term upcycle is a mixture of the words up and recycle. Although people have been using old items to make new items for nearly all of human history, the term upcycle only began to be used in the 1990s. The popularity of upcycling increased in the 2000s and 2010s. Upcycling became a common hobby for people in their homes during this time, and it became an essential part of some corporations’ business models.

Background

In the 1950s, US citizens had just experienced World War II, during which they had to conserve materials and entirely avoid using some goods needed for the war effort. Thus, they were hungry to consume more goods. Furthermore, technology was making new types of cheap, disposable materials. Before that time, most people could not imagine using disposable items that would be used once and then thrown away. Americans began buying more products than ever before. Later in the twentieth century, consumption in the United States grew further, in part because Americans had access to cheaper goods produced overseas.

In response to the increase in consumption, some Americans realized that overconsumption, particularly single-use-item waste, was taking a toll on the environment. In 1970, Wisconsin senator Gaylord Nelson helped organize the first Earth Day. The day was meant to raise people’s awareness about their impact on the environment and what they could do to help improve it. Then, the federal government created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and Congress passed the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, which was a law meant to encourage people to reduce overall waste and to recycle.

Around the same time, marketers and environmentalists started using the phrase “reduce, reuse, recycle.” The phrase indicated that people should attempt to reduce the amount of goods they purchase or use, reuse the items they have already purchased, and recycle whatever materials they can before disposing of anything in the trash. The term quickly became synonymous with recycling, even though recycling was the least important part of the phrase. Environmentalists wanted people first to reduce their consumption and then reuse what they had already consumed.

After the 1970s, recycling increased in popularity in the country. By the 1980s, about less than 10 percent of municipal solid waste (MSW) was recycled in the United States. In 2018, the recycling figure of MSW was equivalent to about 24 percent. Environmentalists were glad that more waste was being recycled, but many believed that further action had to be taken, since recycling is not as environmentally friendly as reducing the consumption of products and reusing products people already own. Although it has existed throughout human history, upcycling became more popular in the 2000s and 2010s as people tried to reduce their impact on the environment by, for example, tracking their carbon footprints. By the 2020s, upcycling remained popular and continued to evolve.

Overview

Upcycling happens in its most basic form when someone improves and repurposes a used item. A simplistic example of upcycling is using an old food jar as a vase for flowers. Another example is a person sewing a pillow from an old sweater that is no longer useful (e.g., it has a hole). Converting a used plastic food drum into a rain barrel that collects rainwater is another example of upcycling. Upcycling saves an item from cluttering a landfill and creates something useful.

Upcycling is different from recycling. Recycling takes a material and completely changes it into a different form (e.g., used paper is transformed into cardboard). A piece of paper or plastic can be recycled a limited number of times because the quality of the material is degraded with each recycling. However, upcycling does not usually change the fundamental makeup of the material being reused.

Some upcycling is done by individuals who want to make new items for their home or reuse materials that would otherwise go to a landfill or a traditional recycling center, which uses water and electricity to recycle materials into something new. Do-it-yourself websites, blogs, and books have many different upcycling tutorials that people can use to create upcycled goods. Individuals began to sell their upcycled products on websites like Etsy.

Upcycling is also an important practice for some businesses. Some corporations have built their business models around upcycling goods. In 2001, a first-year student at Princeton University saw friends feed kitchen scraps to worms that converted the scraps into fertilizer. Tom Szaky, then a college student, wanted to create a business that converted kitchen scraps into fertilizer. Szaky grew the business, TerraCycle, and eventually started selling his fertilizer in big-box retailers around the country. In addition, the company started packaging its fertilizer in old plastic drink bottles, which was another form of upcycling. In 2007, they began collecting drink pouches, energy bar wrappers, and yogurt cups that it upcycled into bags and other products. The business also started recycling some of the waste it collected. In the mid-2020s, TerraCycle also launched industry-specific recycling solutions that served to a range of sectors—from SalonCycle to ScienceCycle—across the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

In the 2000s and 2010s, other businesses based their business models on upcycling and recycling used products. Playback Clothing and Hipcycle converted used products, such as old bottles and worn clothing, into home décor, jewelry, and new clothing. Worn Again Technologies, a textile recycling technology company based in the United Kingdom, upcycled to create its goods. This company made jackets, tote bags, and other items from waste that would otherwise be sent to a landfill, such as hot air balloon shells and airplane seat covers. These companies and companies like them often have a mission to upcycle the material they use and inspire customers and other people to stop looking at everything as disposable. These businesses and environmentalists want more people to look at items that seemingly outlived their intended usefulness and consider new and different ways to reuse them.

Although upcycling was still considered a niche market in the 2020s, it continued to evolve and gain acceptance. Increased interest in global climate change only expanded its popularity. Growing consumer concerns about sustainability efforts, celebrity influence, and an increasing number of companies creating and selling upcycled products only magnified its visibility. Upcycling was especially visible in the fashion industry. For example, the company Zero Waste Daniel used repurposed fabric scraps collected from the New York City garment industry to create its gender-neutral clothes. GOAT Vintage was a similar company, upcycling discarded textiles into new fashion. Luxury designers also took part in the upcycling trend. The technology industry has also enabled the increased focus on upcycling in the fashion industry. Refiberd is a technology initiative focusing on upcycling that develops hyperspectral imaging and artificial intelligence (AI) driven sorting technology for diverting textile waste into high-value reuse streams.

Bibliography

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