upcycle

The practice of recycling waste materials for use in higher
value products, such as turning beer bottlesinto building
materials, or old lumber into furniture; different from
normal recycling (remanufactured wastes back into the same
product over and over) or downcycling (putting toxins into
landfills)
Origin: : Term coined in "Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things" by William McDough and Michael Braungart, 2002.
2002

← Back to "U" words    Dictionary Home