What's the difference between recycled and upcycled?

Over the last few decades, the world has witnessed a change in mentality, with more and more people wishing to live while preserving our environment. New solutions in this direction are emerging, and are affecting new areas every day. The clothing sector, already impacted by this evolution, is progressively adopting more methods to be more ethical, eco responsible and more respectful of the environment, such as recycling and upcycled/upcycling/upcycling.

What is recycling in fashion?

Recycling is generally an industrial process for recovering and treating waste materials so that they can be reintroduced into production cycles of the same type. In fashion, recycling is a technique that reuses end-of-life materials as raw material for garments and accessories. The processing of these materials can, however, alter the quality of the finished product.

This transformation involves a chemical and mechanical operation. The material is first fragmented before being transformed into another. Like all industrial processes, recycling uses water, energy and other resources. All the same, compared with the manufacture of new material, it saves considerable resources. Even though the resulting product may have been mixed with other, non-reused materials, recycling remains an eco-friendly alternative in the long term.

What is upcycling in fashion?

Upcycling is a new term for a practice that already existed in the circular economy. It's a technique that follows the logic of slow fashion, making new from old without skimping on aesthetics or product quality. The aim is to give new life, by producing added value, to a material or object that no longer has any real use.

It's a process that works like collage, with a real desire to improve the product. Scraps of fabric and old garments are recycled to create new garments/accessories. This is an artisanal practice, as it cannot be industrialized.

What's the difference between recycling and upcycling?

Recycling and upcycling are often mistakenly confused. They are distinct and different ecological procedures. Upcycling is indeed a form of recycling, but it seeks to add value to the product without destroying it .

Upcycling is also more ethical and part of the zero waste concept, as it requires no heavy industrial processes. It gives new life to waste while saving resources. What's more, it can be practiced by anyone, as it requires no heavy machinery. It can therefore be considered an improved form of recycling.

What are the advantages of upcycling?

Today's challenge is to preserve natural resources and safeguard theenvironment. Upcycling/overcycling plays an essential role in the circular economy, preventing the use of additional natural resources while reducing the accumulation of waste in landfills. This type of recycling makes use of existing materials, thereby slowing down overproduction.

What are the limits to recycling and upcycling?

The very first step in recycling is sorting. In order to sort, the items to be categorized must have been manufactured using a process that allows recycling. On the other hand, these products must also have been made from recyclable materials and be entirely composed of the same material. A garment made from 100% cotton, for example, will be easier to recycle than one made from 60% cotton and 40% another material.

As for upcycling, it's undeniably part of the 100% zero-waste concept par excellence, but it also has a few limitations. Firstly, using old objects to make new ones requires a creative mind and a vivid imagination. It's quite difficult to figure out how a particular garment or object can be transformed while remaining aesthetically acceptable. This is one of the main difficulties of upcycling.

In addition, brands that have embracedupcycled/ upcycling face a big challenge in making pieces from what they have on hand. These brands have to consider the variation in material types and the fact that not all materials can be used to make just any garment or accessory. What's more, overcycling is a traditional, labor-intensive process that requires a lot of human energy. Brands are therefore obliged to offer their products at higher prices.

Taking all these points into account, recycled/ recycling and upcycled/ upcycling/upcycling are both ways of reducing waste. However, they differ on a number of points. One involves a purely industrial process, while the other, a variant of the former, stands out by remaining artisanal and therefore more ecological. Upcycled/upcycling, then, is the more eco-friendly of the two techniques, offering several advantages by participating in the circular economy, but it also has its limits. However, for a more ethical lifestyle, recycled/ recycling and upcycled/ upcycling will always win out over buying a new garment.