Upcycling, sometimes referred to as creative reuse, is the process of taking objects (such as waste materials or unwanted products) and transforming them into other things that are regarded as having greater artistic or other value.
Upcycling is the opposite of the term downcycling which refers to another approach to recycling where products or materials are converted into other materials that are regarded as being of lesser quality than the originals.
The process aims to take old products and modify them in creative ways to create a new product that continues to have value (rather than the old product being discarded). The technique is often used when taking old, wasted or otherwise broken or discarded furniture and re-purposing it into something new. An old door, for example, could be converted into a coffee table or a canoe into a settee; the only limits to what can be upcycled are a person’s imagination.
