Upcycling: Why “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” Should Level Up | July 22nd, 2020
- “Reduce, reuse, recycle” refers to environmental habits meant to help limit the amount of waste we create from consumption. Each practice helps people prevent waste and pollution, save energy, and conserve natural resources to protect the environment.
- Businesses are recognizing ways to dramatically cut waste from their production streams — sometimes doing more good than entire cities of individuals — and implementing creative strategies such as upcycling to help the Earth and improve their bottom line at the same time.
- How do companies reduce, reuse and recycle?
Reduce: reducing packaging makes a measurable difference. Reuse: upcycling, or “creative reuse,” a specific type of reuse whereby companies transform would-be waste into useful products that are often of greater quality or value. Recycle:using recycled and recyclable materials instead of unused raw materials.
- In fact, a researcher from Columbia Business School suggested that going beyond mandated compliance demands provides long-term financial benefits for companies; businesses that incorporate environmentalism into their core values often see improved market value.
In the 1970s, the world began to recognize the need for better environmental habits. Humanity’s carbon footprint was spiraling out of control. Single-use items were growing in popularity and trash was starting to clog up landfills and litter roadsides.
Activists began demanding solutions to environmental issues such as air pollution, waste management, and water quality. When the first Earth Day was celebrated on April 22, 1970, millions of people joined in the movement. Around this time, the slogan, “reduce, reuse, recycle” was born.
Why Do We Need to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle?
“Reduce, reuse, recycle” refers to environmental habits meant to help limit the amount of waste we create from consumption. Each practice helps people prevent waste and pollution, save energy, and conserve natural resources to protect the environment.
When most people think about ways to improve their environmental habits, they often think about bringing cloth bags to the grocery store, storing leftovers in reusable containers, and filling up their recycle bins with paper and bottles.
However, decision-makers in companies throughout the world can do even better.
Businesses are recognizing ways to dramatically cut waste from their production streams — sometimes doing more good than entire cities of individuals — and implementing creative strategies such as upcycling to help the Earth and improve their bottom line at the same time.
Reduce
For a business, reducing the waste stream often means reducing expenses. Even reducing packaging makes a measurable difference.
Celestial Tea, for example, provides sustainable packaging with compostable and 100% recycled materials instead of conventional wrappers, strings, and staples for their tea bags. This practice helps the company save more than 3.5 million pounds of waste from landfills around the globe each year.
Other companies are also responding to pressure from consumers to reduce waste, such as plastics. Waste reduction methods provide valuable opportunities to not only help the Earth, but also market company values to an increasingly concerned consumer base.
Frustration Free Packaging by Amazon
Retail giant Amazon was infamous for sending small items in large boxes, and it was under pressure to reduce its waste. As a result, it launched the “Frustration-Free Packaging Program,” which lets their customers opt for packaging that is appropriately sized and easy to open. The program helped Amazon reduce the weight of their outbound packaging by 33% and eliminated more than 880,000 tons of wasted material. This step also made a big difference for the company’s expenses, since Amazon itself pays for Prime shipping.
Another example is the carmaker Volvo who’ve been working to ensure that 25% of the plastics used in its new cars will be from recycled materials by 2025. IKEA, the Swedish chain known for its trendy home and office furnishings, has also pledged to phase out all single-use plastics in its stores and restaurants by 2020.
Reuse
Corporations can also make a difference by reusing old products or parts. One particularly popular trend has been upcycling, or “creative reuse,” a specific type of reuse whereby companies transform would-be waste — by-products, waste materials, or unwanted products — into useful products that are often of greater quality or value.
Worn wear by Patagonia
Patagonia, the outdoor clothing and gear company, has led the way in reuse and upcycling.
The company encourages customers to send worn clothes they no longer want back to the company for resale through the “Worn Wear” program. This reuse strategy helps Patagonia reduce their carbon footprint and extend the lifetime of their clothing pieces.
Food recovery initiatives also provide examples of large-scale reusing of what would otherwise go into landfills. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, more than 27 million tons of food and organic waste have been saved through reuse methods such as:
- Composting
- Community food donating policies
- Feeding animals
- Providing waste oils and food scraps for industrial uses
Recycle
While recycling is more costly than reducing and reusing — and therefore should be considered the last resort of the three — many large companies have made huge strides toward using recycled and recyclable materials instead of unused raw materials.
For a start, municipal recycling programs have increased in recent years. The EPA lauds places such as Austin, Texas; Los Angeles, California; and the County of Hawaii for its efforts to divert more than 90% of local waste from the landfill.
Some brands are following the lead of these municipalities. Dell, for example, provides information online for ways to recycle computers, game consoles, and ink cartridges — whether it’s a Dell brand or not. The company also announced a goal of making its packaging 100% waste-free by the end of 2020; they are considering using compostable fungal mycelium instead of conventional packaging materials.
While plastic bottles have been a focus of recycling efforts, the water brand Evian, produced by Danone, has gone a step further. They have pledged to make all of its bottles completely from recycled materials by 2025.
Preserve is another company dedicated to recycling old products. With sustainable materials and innovative recycling systems, they turn old yogurt cups into toothbrushes and transform takeout containers into tableware. The company even encourages people to send in #5 plastics through their “Gimme 5” program so they can make new products.
Miniwiz Manifesto
Use the Three R’s to Go Green
Corporations should implement “reduce, reuse, recycle” on a large scale not just because it’s the right thing to do, but also because it’s beneficial for business. In fact, a researcher from Columbia Business School suggested that going beyond mandated compliance demands provides long-term financial benefits for companies; businesses that incorporate environmentalism into their core values often see improved market value.
Still, the process of going green on a corporate level can be a challenge. Regardless of the industry, it helps to partner with consultants who have the experience to come up with creative methods that reduce a brand’s environmental footprint and smoothen the implementation process.
Miniwiz has more than 15 years of experience collaborating with international companies working in consumer goods, furniture, architecture, and more. We discover ways to integrate eco-conscious processes that are financially feasible and provide long-term success. To learn more about turnkey solutions available for your business model, connect with us today.