upcycling vs downcycling

 

credits: galya-greenery.com

We are undoubtedly aware of the fact that recycling is a major process of going sustainable. The two most outstanding ways of recycling are Up-cycling and Down-cycling. Even though both of them are ways of recycling, they are far apart from each other.


credits: ethicalfashion.online

Upcycling is a method to reuse discarded items or waste without destroying it just to manufacture a new product. This procedure saves a lot more energy because it does not break down old, waste products to form new items. The main motive of up-cycling is not to waste useful materials. Thus, it process constitutes of using existing materials. This lowers the consumption of new raw materials while creating new products. Diminishing the usage of raw materials can lead to the reduction of air and water pollution as well as greenhouse gas and energy consumption.

Minimum energy is required to reuse a discarded product. In other cases, the energy required to recover the raw materials is more than the energy required to process new materials. If the energy is derived from fossil fuels instead of renewable sources, then this process can be worse for environment.

On the other hand, Down-cycling is the procedure of waste recycling where the recycled item is of lower quality and utility than the actual item. This process of recycling can help keep materials in use. Most recycling is actually downcycling i.e. it brings down the quality of a material over time.

credits: insights.globalspec.com






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