If you are aware of some of the most relevant current issues of recycling, surely you have heard of the upcycling. This term in English refers to a type of recycling. In Spanish it is known as supra-recycling and it is a transformation process that makes an object that is already in disuse into another new object that has the same or greater value than it originally had.
Do you want to know more about upcycling to know the value of the products after recycling? In this article we will tell you everything.
What is upcycling
This type of recycling has been very well received. It is about turning a product that does not serve us into something that is more useful or the same as the one it originally had. Imagine the advantages that this can have in terms of saving raw materials. Create products whose utility is greater than that of the original element and above not having to use common raw materials.
With upcycling, many consumers, artists and other companies manage to create original objects. The daily use of some products that do not work can give rise to imagination. With a simple residue that has no use, We can give it a greater value and utility than it had. This is perfect to reduce the volume of total waste that we emit per person and, in addition, we also manage to reduce the consumption of raw materials. Later we will focus better on explaining the advantages of upcycling.
Upcycling could be said to be like a new recycling trend that tries to introduce these guidelines into people's habits so that recycling is a common act. Like recycled Glass bottles in restaurants and at home more commonly, it is expected to transfer to all kinds of raw materials.
This technique opens us up to a new type of consumption of recycled products, since the utility or value they have is much greater. It also serves to extend the life of many things. The main idea surrounding upcycling is to give a second life to all products instead of leaving them to "die" in a landfill. The limit of this technique is the own imagination of each one.
Give more value to the waste
To give you some ideas about products that you can make from upcycling, we found some. For example, cans of preserves are a waste to be thrown in the yellow container. Well, with these cans we can create vases, baskets, containers for pencils, some robots, flowerpots, streetlights for parties, etc. Anything that can be built with a tin can is welcome.
As you can see, the use of a can of preserves was nothing more than preserving the food it had inside. From the moment in which it stops serving to preserve the food because we have already consumed it, it is when it becomes a waste. At this time we will say that its life cycle has been exhausted. However, we can extend this life cycle by giving it a greater utility than it was. If the same can of preserves can serve as a vase, when decorating and preparing it, we will be giving it a higher value than it had as a residual. Before, it would only serve to be destined for a recycling plant where it would be part of a new product (in the event that it was recycled). If not recycled, it would end up in a waste dump, crowded with other waste waiting to be degraded.
With upcycling, we are reconditioning the product to extend its useful life as long as possible. Of course, finally, it is possible that it will stop being useful one day and we will not find another use to give it. That's when we have to throw it in the recycling containers that corresponds to be part of a new product.
Examples of upcycling
We can give more ideas so that you are not eating your head if you are not original. For example, with some dresses or shirts that we can not, we can cut it and make covers for the sofa. Magazines can be used to create original mosaics.
On the other hand, in technology, we can act in thousands of different ways. For example, The old CDs and DVDs that serve us can be used as coasters, scarecrows or pendants. Cassette tapes can also be used to decorate some cabinets or other furniture. If you have an old keyboard, you can take the keys apart and make some geek-style wall clock.
In these cases, the ingenuity and creative capacity of each one will indicate the best or worst use of upcycling. If we are not original, we will not be able to get the most out of the waste that has finished its life cycle.
Is upcycling the same as recycling?
They are two terms in English, but they come to mean recycling and supra-recycling. There are many people who often confuse these terms. Recycling is the industrial recycling process through which a waste is transformed into new material. The product is used for the new production of objects, as we have mentioned before.
On the other hand, upcycling is the term in which we take advantage of objects to increase their value through creativity and lengthen their life cycle. In other words, upcycling does not change its shape or its integrity, so to speak. If we recycle a CD and use it as a coaster, the CD has not undergone any industrial procedure. It has simply been given greater utility than it had before, being an old CD.
If we recycle the CD industrially, it will probably end up in shreds and with the remains we can make another new product. In addition, we will reduce the use of raw materials, pollution and save money. Playing with your imagination is free.
I hope that with this information it has become clear to you what upcycling is and how useful it is in reducing waste.