Upcycling and Its Role in a Circular Economy

by Richard Rowell, Write W.A.V.E. Media Staff

Image (c) Pixabay, Public Domain

How many times have we seen perfectly good furniture and other household items simply discarded? Well, the trend of upcycling has become increasingly popular among artisans, hobbyists, and others, and that’s a good thing. In mid-October 2015, Zero Waste Scotland launched a social media campaign to inspire upcycling called “Design Doc.” This is cool news, and I’d love to see more programs like this. But what stood out to me was my introduction to the concept of a “circular economy” through the comments of Scotland’s Environmental Minister, Dr. Aileen McLeod:

“The Design Doctor campaign is an ideal fit with the Scottish Government’s approach to creating a more circular economy in Scotland.

“The attraction of a more circular approach to our economy – where we keep materials flowing through the economy at as high a value as possible, for as long as possible – is that it tackles a number of economic, environmental, social and moral imperatives.”

So what is a circular economy? Wikipedia has a rather technical article about the term ‘circular economy.’ But in essence, it’s all about moving away from a purely consumerist society to one that focuses on reuse and upcycling as a way of life. So how do we get people to stop simply throwing stuff away?

You have to give them a reason. Scotland has a system in place already to help people be rid of their unwanted items. Dr. McLeod mentions the Revolve program, which gives second-hand goods sellers a re-use quality standard. She adds:


“The pieces destined for upcycling will be sourced from a range of second-hand stores accredited by ‘Revolve’ – a re-use quality standard for shops who sell second hand goods in Scotland.

“Scotland’s Revolve programme is a great way to empower people to upcycle household items instead of throwing them away – and this is a concept that makes sense for business, industry, the public sector, and individuals.”


This is a really cool thing that Scotland is doing for their country, and I’d love to see more countries adopt this model of thinking. Upcycling has already become quite trendy in the fashion and interior design worlds, and properly supported, it could become an extremely profitable industry that also helps the planet. Imagine a world where you could unload your unwanted furniture and other goods with reusable material or purpose for some extra income. Sure, dumpster diving can be fun, and many upcyclers love the treasure hunt. But think of how much we could keep out of landfills and allow upcyclers an endless source of materials with which to work if more programs were in place to make it easy to be rid of things in a better fashion.


The fact is that the world’s resources are finite, and human beings are most definitely creative enough to work with what we’ve already created for the most part. Having a “Revolve” program in place in the US and other countries would minimize waste to a great degree, helping sift out what is truly unusable and basically scrap and what can be actually saved. Such a venture should be able to essentially fund itself, as upcyclers will be happy to pay a minimal amount to not have to dig through landfills and drive around all day searching sidewalks on trash day. Not only does that save gas, but it makes things a lot more convenient and offers even more creative outlets.


There are upcycling shops cropping up all over the place, but it would be great to see them showing up in more communities all over America and the world. Our world needs to find ways to be more sustainable, and it’s clear that upcycling is already a profitable business if you know where to source your materials. The easier that sourcing can be made, with a grassroots or perhaps even a government-sponsored program like Scotland’s, the less we’re polluting the planet and the more we’re saving quality goods that just need repurposing or a simple facelift.

Of course, what it really comes down to is that people need to change their mindset about what an unwanted or imperfect piece of furniture or older household goods that may still have a little life left in them. Even something that is broken is material for something else. If people can think more like upcyclers, the benefits could help everyone. All I think most people need is to be able to visualize things in a new way and the more upcycling programs we have, the more I believe this will be able to happen.