Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb Present participle of downcycle.

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

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Examples

  • Transforming bottles into fabric, while it sounds like alchemy, is actually called downcycling: turning something difficult to make (in this case, impermeable hard plastic) into something easy to make

    TIME.com: Top Stories 2010

  • Another complaint about recycling is that it often isn’t even recycling but is actually something called downcycling.

    THE STORY OF STUFF Annie Leonard 2010

  • Another complaint about recycling is that it often isn’t even recycling but is actually something called downcycling.

    THE STORY OF STUFF Annie Leonard 2010

  • Another complaint about recycling is that it often isn’t even recycling but is actually something called downcycling.

    THE STORY OF STUFF Annie Leonard 2010

  • Another complaint about recycling is that it often isn’t even recycling but is actually something called downcycling.

    THE STORY OF STUFF Annie Leonard 2010

  • Plastic can be processed back into oil to make new plastic without the "downcycling" inherent in current technology.

    The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com 2009

  • Plastic can be processed back into oil to make new plastic without the "downcycling" inherent in current technology.

    The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com 2009

  • There's no research on this yet; some chemists have concerns about turning high-grade paper into toilet tissue downcycling.

    Fear of toxic green boxes 2012

  • True recycling achieves a circular closed loop production process (a bottle into a bottle into a bottle), while downcycling just makes Stuff into a lower-grade material and a secondary product (a plastic jug into carpet backing).

    THE STORY OF STUFF Annie Leonard 2010

  • At best, downcycling reduces the need for virgin ingredients for the secondary item, but it never reduces the resources needed to make a replacement for the original item.

    THE STORY OF STUFF Annie Leonard 2010

  • Geofoam blocks can contain some percentage of recycled plastic, and the blocks themselves are marketed as recyclable (although as with all plastic recycling, “downcycling” is the more accurate term, as plastics can’t be endlessly cycled).

    On Geofoam — The Prepared Anna & Kelly Pendergrast 2021

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  • The practice of recycling a material in such a way that much of its inherent value is lost (e.g. recycling plastic into park benches).

    (Obtained from www.braungart.com/terminology.htm)

    November 25, 2007