“Upcycling” is the advanced stage of cyclic utilization, a kind of value-added reproduce of wasted or old materials, and also the redesigning target of green design. China as the biggest developing country in the world, the waste and garbage is multiplying daily, and its gross carbon emission takes the first all over the world, so it must be beneficial for china’s constructing resource conservation and environment friendly society to upcycle wasted or old materials. Moreover, “upcycling” also has its potential economic value, for the “upcycling” target is wasted or old materials which cost low, and the “upcycling” technique can give its more additional value. Therefore, with proper ways, the wasted can also be upgraded to be treasures to create considerable economic benefits.

THE ORIGIN OF "RECYCLING" PRINCIPLE OF GREEN DESIGN

For industrial design, the core idea of green design is “3R” principle, namely, reducing, reusing and recycling, which not only requires cutting down the consume of energy and materials, reducing the emission of hazardous substance, but also asks for its products and parts that could be convenient for separation and collection, for reuse or recycle. On the basis of “3R” principle and low carbon idea that popular among all people, the modern green design proposes a new “4R” concept to detail recycle as two parts: recycle and regeneration.

As the part of regeneration, Ruize Du concluded its principles as following four aspects in his book named “product durable design”:

(1) Apply surface treatment to simply recycle materials;

(2) Use structure design to remedy the deficiency of recycling materials;

(3) Take the advantage of the feature of secondary materials to design;

(4) Try best not to add any other natural materials (Du, 2002).

It is observed that with the principle change from “3R” to “4R”, the design concept from probably

simplify, classify, streamline to finer transformation and regeneration. Meanwhile, prolonging service life, enhancing after-service quality, excavating same structure applying potential, strengthening structural design to remedy the deficiency of recycling materials, and trying best not to add any other natural materials all means the design has started to pay attention to energy cycle of productive process, as well abstinence and prolong product service life in consumption process at its origin (Wang and Su, 2013). It is not hard to know that the recycling principle of “4R” concept had revealed some design concept of upgrade regeneration, which provides essentially theoretical support for us to study the redesign principle of the waste.

Value enhancing principles

The core target of upcycle is to promote the value of the waste and turn it to be wealth, so enhancing its value should take the first.

The principle of making the most use of the waste

Redesigning with the waste as raw material should try our best to reduce the scrap materials from

manufacturing process in order to make the most use of the waste and avoid secondary waste.

However, not every redesign of the waste can make its most use. Therefore, how to cut down the

production and take proper management of the waste as much as possible needs the designers with certain environmental awareness.

Durable and environmental principle

Although the raw material of redesigning products comes from wasted or old things, it doesn’t mean such products’ quality is poor. On the contrary, the designers should treat it equally without discrimination, and develop it with the same status of regular products in order to ensure its durable quality and prolong its service life. Meanwhile, the designers should pay more attention to take the environmentally friendly products as design guide, and avoid negative influence to environment in the process of products’ design, use and recycle.

Cost control principle

While recycle and redesign of the waste should take an efficiently cost control, or products cannot translate to goods successfully and its value will sharply reduce.

Populace's aesthetic principle

Conforming to the public's aesthetic taste should follow the design principle of taking commercialization as guide. Under such a principle, the designers should possess perfect visual quality, keen insight and be familiar with conditions and customs of target market, as well be sensitive with fashionable and popular elements. And try their best to avoid taking personal thoughts and value into the design to make it as an individual “toy”, but not to conform to the public's aesthetic taste.

THE ANALYSIS OF TYPICAL UPCYCLING CASES

FREITAG is an environmental bags manufacturer in Switzerland Zurich with integrating design, production and distribution, which was found in 1993 by Freitag brothers, Markus and Daniel. Whose bags and luggage’s are all created from the waste, while the worn-out waterproof cloth of container truck as their main material, the waste car seat belts made as their straps or portable belt, and the inner tube of bike as their accessories. By ingenious redesign, FREITAG transfers the waste into fashionable bags which give an excellent perspective of redesign principle of the waste under the upgrade regeneration. Firstly, to the point of value enhancing, FREITAG makes fashionable products out of seemly ordinary waste products raw material to be

consumptive products, which can not only cut down the energy consumption of dealing with the

waste, but also greatly promote its value.

CONCLUSION

Upcycling has been a design tendency in western design and manufacturing industry, while our country who is facing more and more serious environmental problems, but the word “upcycling” is still unpopular among the design community. However, to deal with recycling problem of wasted products or materials, we should be equipped with the prerequisite concept of upcycling the worn-out products or materials. Researching on the redesign principle of the waste under the upcycling concept will benefit to us to understand the target and meaning of upcycle, and has a certain guiding significance for design and practice.