Upcycling and downcycling. Upcycling vs Downcycling . Upcycling and downcycling

 
 Upcycling vs Downcycling Upcycling and downcycling  Image source: Vogue

Creative Consumer . For educators aiming to teach students about sustainable design, production and consumption, it is beneficial. Nature (2023) The vast majority of commodity plastics do not degrade and therefore they permanently pollute the environment. Traditionally textile waste recycling refers to the reprocessing of textile waste (mechanically or chemically) for use in both new textile products and non-textile products (Sandin. Set of vector recycling, upcycling and downcycling signs, isolated icons on white background. We all know what the basis of Recycling is: a practice that takes an item and targets it for reuse, returning it back to the cycle of daily contribution to s. Recycling is an umbrella term. Opportunities for Upcycling and Downcycling. An attractive alternative is upcycling, which aims to dig out the embedded value to incentivize large-scale valorization of plastic wastes. The terms, value and quality, are often used to define upcycling and describe upcycled products in different. 2015). To downcycle an item is to repurpose it into something of lesser quality or value. John Spacey, updated on August 13, 2016. Any material created is collected and recycled to make the next run of products. If it hasn’t quite entered your consciousness just yet, then it will do soon – and in a very big way. Black reuse symbols for ecological design, marking, product labeling. Of late, there is increasingly more talk of Upcycling, presenting it as the best solution for managing the end of life of many consumer products, but is this really the case? There are currently three different ways to deal with the end of life of industrial products, including plastic products, namely Downcycling, Recycling and, most recently. Easy for consumers to participate in recycling programs. Secondary use of plastic bottle in garden pot with green plants. Upcycling clothes means pushing the fabric up, out from its original cycle―to create something better. Both upcycling and downcycling are forms of recycling. Shoes are often made of layers of many different materials, which presents a recycling challenge. When compared to recycling and downcycling, upcycling. From collecting and transporting, to breaking it down and manufacturing. Get in touch with us now. , Oct 24, 2023. "Download this Vector Recycling Upcycling And Downcycling Signs Green Reuse Symbols For Ecological Design Zero Waste Lifestyle vector illustration now. Some are closed loop, while others are open-loop – each with their own pros and cons – but all help us fight for a more sustainable future. They refer to reprocessing with an outcome that provides a different value. of environmental impacts. When to write a summary. The Difference Between Upcycling, Recycling and Downcycling In this article, we’ll help you to understand the differences and benefits of upcycling vs recycling vs. Upcycling is when stuff is. According to Busch Systems, downcycling is the process in which used and often unused products are recycled and refabricated to produce new items of lesser quality. don’t always require the use of other resources to create new products. Most recycling that people think of is considered downcycling—the process of turning high-value products into lower-value products. Recycling includes downcycling or destroying waste to use it for something else. Precycling means adopting a lifestyle that produces a relatively small amount of materials that end up in a landfill or recycling bin. Step 4: Write the summary. Chemical upcycling: Plastic packaging waste can be converted to value-added chemicals by so-called chemical upcycling. The most common downcycled material is. In brief, upcycling is discussed and already reviewed, for e xample, as a. Downcycle. This is not to say that outputs from downcycling aren’t. We divert these excess materials by extending their life as high quality upcycled products or by downcycling them into home insulation or energy. Upcycling is the process of converting waste materials or useless products into new materials or products of better quality or a higher environmental value. You don’t have to stop with old denim, either. The goal of upcycling is to prevent wasting potentially useful materials by making use of existing ones. UPCYCLING definition: 1. Using food waste to create compost is also a. The market is expected to grow considerably in the. 8 kWh can come down to새활용. , 2018), in the textiles industry (Paras & Curteza, 2018), and for chemicals and plastics (Korley et al. While individual choice and habits are important in addressing the problem, the change also needs to start with businesses and corporations. Upcycling is a process that proposes creative reuse with an added value of waste to a higher quality product, such as, for example, the transformation of used wood into furniture, art pieces or. e. Article by: ecostore Published on: November 03 2021 Not all ‘cycling is created equal. ”Upcycling “Standard PET recycling today is essentially ‘downcycling,'” says senior author Gregg Beckham, a Senior Research Fellow at NREL. For more tips on upcycling and living a sustainable lifestyle, take a look at our other blog posts . In this Primer, Xu et al. This downcycling is an essential step in the recycling process, but it does degrade the value of the materials. Downcycling implies downgrading a commodity by different processes of recycling. A pile of microplastics - small pieces of hard plastic on palm, intended for further processing. If you want to go beyond recycling and have a bigger positive impact on the environment, try experimenting with upcycling and precycling. Downcycling: transforming a product into an inferior one, such as grinding running shoes down to create the surface of basketball courts Upcycling: converting a product into a superior form, such as spinning single-use plastic bottles into polyester fabrics which might be worn for decades. 那recycly和upcycly到底有什么区别? 我们知道,recycle是将材料完全分解,制成完全不一样的物品,这其中当然也涉及到能源消耗啦。It is a degree of willful disregard that makes all the difference. Upcycling is an efficient way to transform plastic waste into high-value products and can significantly lessen the environmental impact of plastic production/consumption. May 12, 2015 by admin . Overall, the practice of upcycling clothes lowers the demand for new clothing production, which is extremely wasteful and destructive for the planet. Promoting an enhanced diversion of. The value of the clothing is decreased - by turning it into cloths or rags, for example - but it still retains a useful purpose. So, even though downcycling seems like the worst of the bunch, remember it has its place. According to the Ellen MacArthur. Both upcycling and downcycling are forms of recycling. ”. Downcycling is just as useful but involves stripping down items to component parts, usually with less of an inherent value than the original item. Downcycling usually happens on. Upcycling vs. Downcycling is the reuse of materials in such a way that the end use is less valuable than the original use, for example, damaged textiles being used for car seat stuffing. Materials are reused in a clever new way, giving them a second life and function. , 2021). The upcycling technol. However, only techniques for downcycling end-of-life high-pressure membranes are available. Green upcycle text and icon. If this comes to pass, then the use of plastics need no longer be a zero-sum game. Upcycling Vs. September 2019; Fashion Practice 11(3):375-396;For most of us within the small professional circles of sustainable fashion, the terms ‘upcycling’, ‘recycling’, and ‘downcycling’ flow aeasy over our lips. July 25, 2022 | By Hive Team Want to know the basics of upcycling vs. Upcycling not only reduces what reaches the landfill but minimizes the use of our earth’s natural resources. One of the most important environmental objectives in the. At this point, the material will become unusable. Landfilling of textile waste is a prevalent option that is deemed unsustainable. In the meanwhile, the development of guidelines for textile waste handling by the. According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s widely cited 2017 New Textiles Economy Report , roughly only one percent of clothes produced are recycled into new ones. Both recycling and upcycling reduces the amount of waste that ends up in landfills around the world. S. An overview of repair cafes. They provided. Downcycling is a process that typically takes single-use products and turns them into durable goods such as plastic lumber, or park benches. The difference between upcycling and recycling is really the difference between upcycling and a process known as downcycling. has turned into a waste and cannot be reused. Often misunderstood, recycling, upcycling and downcycling do not mean the same thing. The terms “upcycling” and “downcycling” denote processes that increase or decrease the value of a material. Recycling waste means that the raw materials and energy are put back into the commercial cycle. Recycle vs. As such, upcycling can be described as the opposite of downcycling, which downgrades the value of the material and discards the work and value invested in it. There are two other terms, upcycling and downcycling, that complement this practice and work better depending on the situation. (*)The term upcycling was coined in the late 1990s by Belgian Gunter Pauli and German Johannes Hartkemeyer (and later further developed by McDonough and Braungart in the early 2000s) as opposed to that downcycling, which in the recycling process indicates the conversion of a product’s material into a basic form, often of a. It’s a process that transforms materials into something else, but at a lower quality. What is Downcycling Compared to Upcycling and Recycling? Downcycling, also known as cascading, is the recycling of waste where the recycled material is of lower quality and functionality than the original material. Reducing waste. El término de upcycling nace en 1994, cuando fue nombrado en un artículo de Thorton Kay de Salvo por Reiner Piltz. Zero waste lifestyle. It involves protection of larger populations and conservation of organisms and their habitat as a whole. The upcycling of plastic wastes to realize plastics circularity is obstructed by the presence of chlorine impurities. In such cases the product is repro- cessed into same, higher or. Upcycling is taking pieces of fabric that would not have been useful otherwise and making them into a dress. But if you don’t live in Seattle, it’s actually pretty simple to recycle your canisters on your own. Causes of Natural Vs. It is a ‘gate to grave’ approach focusing on the end-of-life of printed plastic scrap from converting industry, including waste treatment operations. The main distinction between upcycling and downcycling is that upcycling involves creating a new, different product of high quality, while downcycling or recycling. The interviews provided insights into current upcycling behaviour (e. 2. This continues as often as the quality of the newly created product is still sustainable, but always means that the product wears out more and more - and yet downcycling is better than. Upcycling is mainly done at small scale: Upcycling can deal with blended materials, but current upcyclers or craftswomen can only deal with small quantities, and often struggle selling their products. Last year, Looptworks kept 12,674 metric tons of CO2 out of the air thanks to circularity. But what about upcycling’s polar-opposite, “downcycling”? Essentially, it’s when an item is repurposed into something less valuable. – Primary, secondary and tertiary recycling. Downcycling. Conclusion: To sum it up Gossip is light talk about a person that may or may not be true but is often public knowledge, most often about celebrities and coworkers. Personal benefits of Upcycling. The goal of the process is to transform materials with low quality and functionality into materials that can be used to create new products. The amount of time, energy, and money required for the recycling process also play an important role in the grouping of different recycled materials. Basically Upcycling means to raise the quality, Recycling means to keep it on the same level and downcycling means lowering the quality. If this comes to pass, then the use of plastics need no longer be a zero-sum game. Als verschillende glas kleuren in dezelfde. The key is that upcycling takes waste material and transforms it into something better and more valuable—the “up” (as in upgrade) part of “upcycling”. Upcycling plastic bottles cutting utilized jar to plant seedling and flowers. Schematic illustration of upcycling and downcycling of end-of-life polymeric membranes. In this unit, you will find materials for planning and conducting an. Continuing to drive recycling Back in 2007, the Tarmac Aerosave company was created for sustainable dismantling of commercial aircraft. Upcycling is a term that sprung to life in the 90’s, but hit the mainstream in the 2000’s. recycled furniture a woman restores and improves an old wooden chair in her workshop upcycling stock pictures, royalty-free photos & images. But we need to go a bit further into. To downcycle an item is to repurpose it into something of lesser quality or value. The goal of upcycling is that any previous design can surely shine again. converts the material into something of greater value than it originally was. Another significant difference is that recycling is usually a chemical reconstruction of the items, whereas upcycling is a total alteration that makes something totally new out of used products or waste. [1] 새활용 (영: Upcyling) 이란 리너 필츠. Abstract. Upcycling is when facilities process the. Upcycling and downcycling involve a lot of DIY to make an item useful for other purposes. Black reuse symbols for ecological design, marking, product labeling. Visit our workshop 2410 SE 11th Avenue Portland, OR 97214 8:30am - 5pm M-F (503) 972-0168. Upcycling vs Recycling: The Main Differences Recyclinginvolves the breaking down of a waste item into its basic materials and then remaking it into new items. Upcycling is the reuse of materials through creative expression and labour that results in the end product being valued more highly than the materials used to create it. Downcycling is still a form of recycling, but the “down” refers to the fact that, when the materials the product is made from are broken down, they can’t be made into a. Potting creation. According to Busch Systems, downcycling is the process in which used and often unused products are recycled and refabricated to produce new items of lesser quality. This textile material (denim) has many possibilities to the designers and can be used as raw material to other industries. While individual choice and habits are important in addressing the problem, the change also needs to start with businesses and corporations. "What we need is upcycling, where old products are given more value, not less," stressed Reiner Pilz when referring to the. Certainly, favoring the reuse of. Tune i. The material will very rarely find its basic utility. What is Shipping Container Architecture? » Repair Cafe . These Days it’s All About Rubbish. Downcycled materials can therefore only be used to make a different type of product than the original. It goes from being an unwanted discard to a highly sought-after and valued piece. Downcycled textiles end up burned or in the cement industry: Most post-consumer waste textiles are still being burned or sold to the cement. Upcycling vs Downcycling » Shipping Container Architecture . Lagoons that are fairly sheltered from the ocean will have more freshwater ecosystems. Downcycling is the type of recycling that many people are familiar with, such as recycling paper or plastic. Tweet Share Pin The key is that upcycling takes waste material and transforms it into something better and more valuable—the “up” (as in upgrade) part of “upcycling”. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), one of the most consumed synthetic polyesters, has a challenging recycling process. But it’s the opposite of its cousin, downcycling. Hipcycle. Both upcycling and downcycling are forms of recycling. There might be a range of sustainability and eco benefits to both upcycling and downcycling, including but not limited to: – Total Resources Consumed & Inputs Used. Reuse This is the complete list of articles we have written about reuse. An upcycling approach to clothing longevity examines how garments can be re-designed and resold in a new form. 3). For example, steel scrap from end-of-life. THE LIST is a daily TV show that covers the hottest trends and topics in life hacks, pop culture, deals and gadgets to make your life a little easier. An attractive alternative is upcycling, which aims to dig out the embedded value to incentivize large-scale valorization of plastic wastes. Nothing beats that warm and fuzzy feeling you get inside when you’ve done something great for the planet. It’s the process of taking a product or material that would normally be thrown away and giving it a second life in the form of a new, higher-quality product. 66 g of DHPVC. Downcycling is a more industrial process, requiring more energy and resources than upcycling. **Picture this: After tossing a single-use plastic bottle. We just need to be aware of the challenges and be honest and open about them. Elegant furniture made of pallets, bags from old materials, and even houses from sea containers are. Using food waste to create compost is also a. 1. This. Upcycling is considered to be better aligned with Circular Economy principles and its implementation in the industry requires a comprehensive anal. In many cases, the bottles may be filled with a liquid in order to improve the thermal properties of the wall. Now a conversion strategy addresses this problem and paves the way to upcycle. For example, the paper in a book can be transformed into recycled paper. If you’re interested in finding new ways to reuse your items instead of sending them to a landfill site, keep reading to find out more. And search more of iStock's library of royalty-free vector art that features Upcycling graphics available for quick and easy download. e. They refer to reprocessing with an outcome that provides a different value. Manufacturers can use them to build low-cost benches, decking, and more. . waste paper into toilet paper. How is upcycled fashion good for the environment? 1. That is, whether it is for upcycling or downcycling in question. While sustainable fashion comprises a vast number of concepts, key terms like reusing, recycling, upcycling and downcycling are extremely relevant. 1. Det ligger næsten i ordlyden på de tre begreber. Downcycling; 20 Creative Ways to Recycle Plastic Bottles; 6 Things Made from Recycled Plastic; Recycled Plastic As Part of Your Sustainability Strategy; Read this guide to plastic recycling ideas that can help individuals, as well as large organizations, practice sustainability. A bottle wall is a wall made with upcycled glass or plastic bottles and a binding material such as concrete. This article focuses on the upscaling of polymers. Upcycling and recycling both use waste to transform into newer products. However, while there are a few simple definitions of what these terms means – to follow hereafter – the concept demands a bit more attention when drilling down into material streams related to. One of the keys to saving our planet is. Upcycling is the process of transforming used materials into new products of higher quality and greater value. At present, less than 20% of post-consumer plastic waste in developed. Polyp is a sessile life cycle stage of the Cnidaria phylum. Manufacturers can also support the upcycling and downcycling of server components. Interestingly, although upcycling has existed for many years, the fashion industry has recently seen a. While many recyclable products, like glass, paper, and aluminum can be reused over and over without much change in usability, plastic products are where we see a significant decrease in quality each time it. has turned into a waste and cannot be reused. Before there was municipal and charitable recycling, there was upcycling and downcycling. Both downcycling and upcycling strategies were applied in scenario 4. Upcycling vs. and broken down. This happens with paper which is 3. Image source: Vogue. Upcycling is “the process of converting waste materials or useless products into new materials or products of better quality or a higher environmental value,” says Wikipedia. Continuing to drive recycling Back in 2007, the Tarmac Aerosave company was created for sustainable dismantling of commercial aircraft. Generally speaking, downcycling is breaking down the fibers of fabric to create smaller units but this is just one example. This saves on energy consumption, as processing can have high energy costs. Upcycling vs Recycling: The Main Differences Recyclinginvolves the breaking down of a waste item into its basic materials and then remaking it into new items. Organic vegetable peelings on crumpled wrapping paper. Both Might Have Sustainability & Eco Benefits. Few shoe recycling facilities can handle the wide variety of shoe types out there. Upcycling, recycling, and downcycling are all related but aren’t considered equal to each other. Upcycling is all about using creativity and innovation to create new, useful products from discarded items, and reducing the amount of waste sent to landfills in the process. The oldest publication reviewed was Steinhilper and Hieber's (2001) review and opinion paper on remanufacturing industries to transform downcycling into upcycling of electronics. A colorful quote from engineer Reiner Pilz (“Recycling? I call it DOWNcycling. Recycling is an umbrella term for various types of product and material waste conversion. Downcycling, in contrast, is the devaluation of a piece. 3. _____ than the original, we are downcycling. Durability. Downcycling. 1. Upcycling and downcycling indicate that the raw material created during the cycle is better or worse compared to its original quality. If you live in Seattle, the MSR repair shop will collect empty fuel canisters from any brand as part of its Fuel Canister Recycling Program. . Downcycling. As the length of fibers is shortened and the constituent of molecules is reduced by wear, laundry, and recycling process, the textile recycling is often in the way of downcycling. This has caused some confusion and misunderstanding. Upcycling is making something new of higher value from the material without having to do a complete recreation of raw material. See full list on bettermeetsreality. The primary difference between the two, however, is that with upcycling, you actually increase the quality or value of the item. upcycling and reselling, we can reduce the use of water from 78. Opposite to downcycling, upcycling underscores the ecological, economic, and social value of materials (Kopnina 2019). Energy demand fro m 38. Downcycling consists of recycling the material over and over again, until it loses its quality. Upcycling and downcycling are the concepts followed by the company. Most. While the plastic is processed in both these methods, during recycling the quality and. , 2017). Find Upcycling stock images in HD and millions of other royalty-free stock photos, 3D objects, illustrations and vectors in the Shutterstock collection. Okay, so upcycling is one of our best options. By understanding how recycling works, we can make smarter decisions as brand. Knowing the difference between upcycling and downcycling it is clear that using advanced recycling as a method of upcycling healthcare plastics is the most viable option for a cleaner, more sustainable. out of old or used things or waste material…. Slander are outright lies about a persons actions or character and can seriously harm their reputation. Upcycling is when, instead of recycling like-for-like, a material or object is turned into a higher-value material or object from both an economic and environmental perspective. Reprocessing: upcycling, recycling, and downcycling. Downcycling is the process of breaking down used materials into their base components, which can then. If the word "recovery" is expanded to the value of the product recovered, it be fitting to describe upcycling. All else equal, upcycling is better than downcycling because upcycling prolongs the useful life of materials. Embracing the circular economy: Brands can design for zero-waste or as-a-service models and engineer a sustainable life cycle, including re-use, upcycling and downcycling of products. Upcycling vs Downcycling . Downcycling is just as useful but involves stripping down items to component parts, usually with less of an inherent value than the original item. In Downcycling we recycle materials to a downgraded or lesser quality such as a. You could even save your prettiest fabric scraps and try out Furoshiki gift wrapping! Downcyle t-shirts into rags or bedding for a pet. Examples might include:It’s a process many refer to as “upcycling,” which UpcycleThat. Examples include: trash art, seatbelt purses, leather bags made from old leather jackets, etc. In downcycling, the value of the material decreases in the process of remanufacturing. 3 ความต่างของลูปรีไซเคิล. There are ways that you can upcycle your shoes even at home. The upcycling of chlorinated plastics into value-added products is an effective method to reduce plastic pollution. There is a difference between mechanical recycling, resale, upcycling and downcycling that each affect the circular economy differently. – By waste material type, and by recycling facilities that process different types of waste. 1. Then, the energy, time and labor which went into. 5. Without all three of these processes, there would be a vast amount of virgin materials being produced in order to make everyday products. It’s an inspiring journey! Discovering the benefits of upcycling The benefits to upcycling are plentiful, including environmental, creative, and financial. Tweet Share Pin Recycling Vs. Once the backpack wears out, it can be torn up and used it to stuff a dog bed. ScienceDaily . For example, a. Chat Bubble Made of Recycled Paper on Green. 3. The degradation of nonrecoverable plastic wastes is another necessity to treat the omnipresent pollution. Downcycling is a process that typically takes single-use products and turns them into durable goods such as plastic lumber, or park benches. Using food waste to create compost is also a. To reuse an item is to make use of it whether for its original purpose or to upcycle or repurpose it. Com o intuito de evitar o desperdício e continuar a utilizar os materiais e produtos que já circulam na economia, Upcycling é uma técnica que reaproveita materiais que seriam descartados, mas que ainda apresentam um grande potencial de utilidade. Another significant difference is that recycling is usually a chemical reconstruction of the items, whereas upcycling is a total alteration that makes something totally new out of used products or waste. A high-tech example is making countertops out of post-consumer paper. While downcycling implies quality loss the term open-loop recycling denotes a situation where the. Working with our partners Relay Resources (Portland, OR) and Bobby Dodd (Atlanta, GA), the uniforms are sorted,. While upcycling is generally viewed as the more sustainable route—largely because it extends the. Jika dicontohkan dalam konsep recycle, sampah botol plastik dikumpulkan lalu. Upcycling and downcycling, which are often mislabeled as recycling, are quite different. Restyling, upcycling and repurposing are all ways of eking a bit of extra life out of a garment. Downcycling converts these recycled materials into lesser quality products. Upcycling— converting an item or material into something of equal or more excellent value. Environment conservation. [1] 새활용 (영: Upcyling) 이란 리너 필츠. Introduction The issue of abandonment of the building assets is increasingly widespread. A lagoon which is more open to the ocean, or another large saltwater body, will be more brackish and have more saltwater ecosystems. This concept places value on the resources which make up our products, and follows a circular model of: use → recycle → reuse. This is another big difference between upcycling and recycling: whereas, when something is recycled, the material or object loses its original form, the beauty of upcycling is that the original object can still be clearly identified after assuming its new function. com defines this way: “The act of taking something no longer in use and giving it a second life and new function. [1] [2] Often, this is due to the accumulation of tramp elements in secondary metals, which may exclude the latter from high-quality applications. Tune i. Where recycling converts plastic bottles into microfiber jackets, upcycling turns newsprint into notebooks, or broken skateboards into hip, colorful benches. The term downcycling is often used anecdotally to describe imperfections in recycling. and more. There is a difference between mechanical recycling, resale, upcycling and downcycling that each affect the circular economy differently. Large amounts of plastics are discarded worldwide each year, leading to a significant mass of waste in landfills and pollution to soil, air, and waterways. Downcycling can be thought of as the opposite of upcycling. Transparent background. But we need to go a bit further into the terms and look at some examples to understand the differences. Downcycling envolve a conversão de materiais e produtos em novos materiais de menor qualidade. Downcycling is the process of breaking down used. At the same time, new regulations are setting high standards for recycled construction materials, encouraging a shift from downcycling to recycling and upcycling. Downcycling . ,. – Plus, other types and categories of recycling. Upcycling results in products… ____ c. They smash bricks, they smash everything. Basically, upcycling is using items that already exist for another purpose. Upcycling and Downcycling: What’s the Difference? Downcycling. 2 gallons. Thinking beyond downcycling. 1. Downcycling, in contrast, is the devaluation of a piece. Article. 3. Under the umbrella is downcycling and upcycling. November 10, 2021 at 10:59 a. And, where there is downcycling there is upcycling. The term is used simply to differentiate this type of re-use with true recycling. 🔍…Collecting sorting plastic, paper for recycling upcycling downcycling. The official dictionary definition of the word upcycle is: ‘to reuse (discarded objects or material) in such a way as to create a product of higher quality or value than the original. People accomplish this through a mixture of. The organisms/species get the opportunity to evolve. The upcycling of plastic wastes to realize plastics circularity is obstructed by the presence of chlorine impurities. Set of vector recycling, upcycling and downcycling signs, isolated icons on white background. ขวดแก้ว ที่ผ่านการ Upcycling. Simple enough. Recycling, or downcycling, would break the materials down into other, lower-value materials. Recycling is a two-part process: upcycling and downcycling. The liquid used must be resistant to bacteria and other microorganisms. Gone are the days where you need to. DOWNCYCLING. and more. When you partner with Looptworks, you join a circular system that’s making a positive impact on our environment. Reduce, reuse, recycle, repeat… say hello to upcycling– the manufacturing revolution changing the way we turn wasted materials into amazing new stuff! While both recycling and upcycling reduces the amount of junk that goes to our landfills, upcycling turns that same waste into a product of a higher quality–while recycling slightly.