Upcycling

What exactly is Upcycling?

Simply put, Upcycling is the process of converting old or discarded materials into something useful and often beautiful. During upcycling material is reused without degrading the quality and composition of the material for its next use.

How does Upcycling differ from Recycling?

Recycling is the process of breaking down discarded materials — mostly plastic, paper, metal and glass — into base materials so their base materials can be remade into a new consumer product. These products however are usually lower quality than what they were before being recycled.

When you upcycle an item, you aren’t breaking down the materials. You may be refashioning it but it’s still made of the same quality materials as when you started.