Upcycling – Eco-Friendly Capitalism

This article is contributed by Tania Ellis, author of The New Pioneers.

Upcycling is the process of converting waste materials or useless products into new materials or products of better quality or a higher environmental value. It reduces the consumption of new raw materials when creating new products, and is contrary to downcycling, which is the other half of the recycling process which involves converting materials and products into new materials of lesser quality.

The UK-based company Worn Again, voted ‘number one eco brand’ by The Independent in 2008, uses the combination of aesthetic and environmental capital by upcycling corporate waste materials into new, design-led products. Read more