Upcycling, the process of recycling undesirable waste and reusing it to form a desirable product, has recently increased in popularity as seen by Samsung’s eco-packages allowing for the more desirable use of cardboard boxes, which would have otherwise been thrown away as waste. At first glance, upcycling seems like the perfect solution to many issues for the environment; it would generate less waste as less material potentially harmful towards the environment could be reused instead of thrown away, and the harmful production of certain materials could also be avoided. However, upcycling does have its limitations, such as the lack of opportunity, additional material needed to be bought for the transformation, and elimination of future recycling.

It obviously isn’t easy to upcycle. Unfortunately, upcycling requires plenty of creativity, which is a talent simply not present in many individuals. The process of turning waste into a desirable product requires an acceptable idea that will transform the waste into something that could actually be used. Additionally, because upcycling is only beneficial when properly transformed and reusable to fill the roles of products we truly need, the amount of waste we generate outweighs the amount of waste able to be upcycled. This contributes to the lack of opportunity aforementioned, resulting in most of the waste unable to be upcycled due to the lack of a need for such products. Because of these reduced opportunities to upcycle, it may be a better investment for the environment to simply recycle instead of ambitiously trying to make unfavorable waste favorable. 

Furthermore, upcycling often requires additional products to be purchased, and may generate even more future waste. For example, upcycling recommendations for everyday products such as furniture and accessories presented on the internet almost always requires paint, which would not only create more waste but would also prevent the product from ever being recycled again due to the toxic nature of the paint. Therefore, because upcycling requires additional materials to be purchased that may potentially restrict the recycling of the “upcycled” product in the future, it may again be a better investment for the environment to safely recycle instead of resorting to upcycling.

All in all, although upcycling doesn’t seem to be the perfect solution for dealing with every single piece of waste, it may be appropriate at certain times. For example, although there may be little opportunities, an opportunity may and will inevitably arise. In these situations, upcycling can be implemented to replace or fill the role of a product that we need. However, in other situations where upcycling is simply not necessary because we do not need additional upcycled products we aren’t gonna use, we should resort to recycling. 

Sources:

https://blog.gardeningknowhow.com/gardening-pros-cons/pros-and-cons-of-garden-upcycling/

https://paguroupcycle.com/blogs/news/what-is-upcycling-faqs#:~:text=It%20isn't%20easy%20to,product%2C%20which%20can%20be%20frustrating.

Images:

https://www.sustainability-times.com/green-consumerism/upcycling-can-work-wonders-up-to-a-point/

https://twitter.com/upcycling_ideas/status/989535325037920256/photo/1