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The current linear economy of ‘take, make, use and dispose’ has caused tremendous negative environmental impacts including resource scarcity, a large volume of waste, increased use of energy and therefore increased level of greenhouse gas emissions. As an alternative to the linear economy, a circular economy has emerged, and academics, industries, governments and intergovernmental organisations have paid attention to a variety of ways to reutilise used or waste materials and products. Upcycling is one promising approach to such resource reutilisation. It is typically defined as a process of keeping or increasing the value or quality of the used or waste materials and products, giving a second life to the compositional elements. The terms, value and quality, are often used to define upcycling in different pieces of the literature, but how exactly value or quality should be understood in the context of upcycling has not yet been fully investigated. This chapter discusses how one could understand quality in upcycled products in a comprehensive manner.
Kyungeun Sung; Deepti Mahajan. Understanding Quality in Upcycled Products. Lecture Notes in Production Engineering 2021, 119 -122.
AMA StyleKyungeun Sung, Deepti Mahajan. Understanding Quality in Upcycled Products. Lecture Notes in Production Engineering. 2021; ():119-122.
Chicago/Turabian StyleKyungeun Sung; Deepti Mahajan. 2021. "Understanding Quality in Upcycled Products." Lecture Notes in Production Engineering , no. : 119-122.
People’s usual anticipation towards material consumption is that it pleases us, yet consumption experiences are not always pleasurable nor give us long-lasting positive emotional experiences. People sometimes regret their purchase, or the pleasure from material gain may wear off quickly, which does not make people happy in the long run. We propose that upcycling as a do-it-yourself experience could be a promising pathway for individuals to gain long-lasting happiness as well as resulting outcomes of upcycling which could facilitate further positive use experiences and special meaning. This chapter introduces how researchers and practitioners in service or experience design and development could use positive emotional granularity (PEG) in order to design for positive upcycling experiences that contribute to people’s well-being.
Kyungeun Sung; JungKyoon Yoon. Designing for Positive Upcycling Experiences with People’s Well-Being in Mind. Lecture Notes in Production Engineering 2021, 135 -139.
AMA StyleKyungeun Sung, JungKyoon Yoon. Designing for Positive Upcycling Experiences with People’s Well-Being in Mind. Lecture Notes in Production Engineering. 2021; ():135-139.
Chicago/Turabian StyleKyungeun Sung; JungKyoon Yoon. 2021. "Designing for Positive Upcycling Experiences with People’s Well-Being in Mind." Lecture Notes in Production Engineering , no. : 135-139.
As an alternative to the current linear economy of take, make, use and dispose, a circular economy based on (almost infinite) resource circulation or reutilisation in a closed-loop system has emerged for overall reduction in negative environmental impact and economic growth. Upcycling is one promising approach to resource reutilisation and incorporates multiple practices in the circular economy. It is a process of keeping or enhancing the value or quality of the used or waste materials, components or products. Many varied definitions of upcycling often use the terms, value or quality or both. How exactly such value and quality should be understood or have been understood in the context of upcycling has not yet been fully studied. This chapter suggests one potential theoretical framework to understand upcycling in relation to perceived quality and value, and proposes its possible application to empirical research utilising fuzzy linguistic approach.
Kyungeun Sung. Understanding and Measuring Value and Quality of Upcycling with Fuzzy Linguistic Approach. Lecture Notes in Production Engineering 2021, 127 -130.
AMA StyleKyungeun Sung. Understanding and Measuring Value and Quality of Upcycling with Fuzzy Linguistic Approach. Lecture Notes in Production Engineering. 2021; ():127-130.
Chicago/Turabian StyleKyungeun Sung. 2021. "Understanding and Measuring Value and Quality of Upcycling with Fuzzy Linguistic Approach." Lecture Notes in Production Engineering , no. : 127-130.
A current linear economy based on ‘take, make, use and dispose’ has shaped unsustainable patterns of production and consumption, and a transition to a circular economy based on reutilisation of used or waste materials and products is required for sustainable future. Repair is one of the important inner circles/loops of the circular economy which in principle alleviates resource scarcity and improves material efficiency. Upcycling incorporates multiple concepts and practices in the circular economy such as creative forms of repair, reuse, repurpose, refurbishment, upgrade, remanufacture and recycling such that the end results have equal or higher value or quality than the compositional elements. With present diverse understanding of upcycling, this chapter explains the overlap between repair and upcycling in order to provide some clarifications and facilitate future research in the intersection between repair and upcycling.
Kyungeun Sung; Tung Dao. Repair and Upcycling: How Do We Know Which Repair Is Considered as Upcycling? Lecture Notes in Production Engineering 2021, 105 -109.
AMA StyleKyungeun Sung, Tung Dao. Repair and Upcycling: How Do We Know Which Repair Is Considered as Upcycling? Lecture Notes in Production Engineering. 2021; ():105-109.
Chicago/Turabian StyleKyungeun Sung; Tung Dao. 2021. "Repair and Upcycling: How Do We Know Which Repair Is Considered as Upcycling?" Lecture Notes in Production Engineering , no. : 105-109.
Resource consumption has reached an unsustainable level, leading to devastating environmental impacts. For a more sustainable future, not only environmentally but economically and socially, material cycles need to be slowed down and, if possible, closed. Upcycling presents a promising alternative to mass production and consumption based on the use of virgin materials, in order to slow material cycles. There has been a growing academic and industrial interest in upcycling, particularly related to the emerging circular economy. Research in upcycling, however, is still in its infancy. Development of upcycling theories and practices is required if there is to be a transition in upcycling from niche to mainstream. As part of our efforts to develop upcycling theories and practices, we organised the first International Upcycling Symposium and called for contributions by international academics, practitioners and other relevant actors working on upcycling. In response, we received a wide range of papers across disciplines, sectors, industries, countries and regions. This chapter provides a brief summary of each contribution showing the state of the art in upcycling research and practice at the global scale which provides fundamental understanding of upcycling with varied definitions and forms and informs readers of valuable ideas, theories, projects, experiences and insights into upcycling by global experts.
Kyungeun Sung; Jagdeep Singh; Ben Bridgens; Tim Cooper. Introduction: State-of-the-Art Upcycling Research and Practice. Lecture Notes in Production Engineering 2021, 1 -6.
AMA StyleKyungeun Sung, Jagdeep Singh, Ben Bridgens, Tim Cooper. Introduction: State-of-the-Art Upcycling Research and Practice. Lecture Notes in Production Engineering. 2021; ():1-6.
Chicago/Turabian StyleKyungeun Sung; Jagdeep Singh; Ben Bridgens; Tim Cooper. 2021. "Introduction: State-of-the-Art Upcycling Research and Practice." Lecture Notes in Production Engineering , no. : 1-6.
Fashion upcycling, the process of using waste clothing and textiles to create new products, is an alternative to business-as-usual practices which can effectively address concerns on excessive consumption of energy and material resources and use of chemicals in the fashion industry. Scaling up fashion upcycling businesses could enable the transition of the fashion industry towards sustainability. Past studies in fashion upcycling have paid attention to limited aspects of the businesses, and comprehensive synthesis of viewpoints from diverse stakeholders involved in the business is lacking. This paper provides such a synthesis, focusing on the challenges and success factors for expanding (or scaling up) UK fashion upcycling businesses. Twenty three stakeholders in the UK were interviewed. Four different perspectives (by material suppliers, upcyclers, retailers and consumers) on challenges and success factors for scaling up fashion upcycling businesses in the UK as well as suitable actors to take actions for positive change were identified. Common challenges and success factors across stakeholders were highlighted. The paper further discusses theoretical and practical implications of the study.
Kyungeun Sung; Tim Cooper; Johanna Oehlmann; Jagdeep Singh; Oksana Mont. Multi-Stakeholder Perspectives on Scaling up UK Fashion Upcycling Businesses. Fashion Practice 2020, 12, 331 -350.
AMA StyleKyungeun Sung, Tim Cooper, Johanna Oehlmann, Jagdeep Singh, Oksana Mont. Multi-Stakeholder Perspectives on Scaling up UK Fashion Upcycling Businesses. Fashion Practice. 2020; 12 (3):331-350.
Chicago/Turabian StyleKyungeun Sung; Tim Cooper; Johanna Oehlmann; Jagdeep Singh; Oksana Mont. 2020. "Multi-Stakeholder Perspectives on Scaling up UK Fashion Upcycling Businesses." Fashion Practice 12, no. 3: 331-350.
Upcycling is a process in which used or waste products and materials are repaired, reused, repurposed, refurbished, upgraded and remanufactured in a creative way to add value to the compositional elements. It has been part of human life throughout history, and the past few years have seen its revival, driven by multiple factors including growing concern for the environment and resource scarcity. Upcycling increases quality and lifetimes of materials and products, reduces wastes, creates employment opportunities, and encourages sustainable consumer behaviour. Despite such benefits and increasing interest, upcycling is largely considered as a niche practice. One of the important gaps in the current state of knowledge on upcycling is a lack of systemic understanding about challenges and success factors relating to scaling up upcycling businesses. This paper aims to address this gap by employing a broad range of methods for reaching its goal, including literature review, stakeholder analysis, semi-structured interviews, group model building, development of causal loop diagrams, and a workshop with stakeholders and experts to validate causal loop diagrams and discuss promising interventions and how to proceed. The results identified potential actors for the success of upcycling businesses, key challenges and success factors, causal linkages among the challenges and success factors, key system mechanisms, and interventions for scaling up upcycling businesses. Collaboration across the upcycling value chain involving a wide range of actors is also discussed.
Jagdeep Singh; Kyungeun Sung; Tim Cooper; Katherine West; Oksana Mont. Challenges and opportunities for scaling up upcycling businesses – The case of textile and wood upcycling businesses in the UK. Resources, Conservation and Recycling 2019, 150, 104439 .
AMA StyleJagdeep Singh, Kyungeun Sung, Tim Cooper, Katherine West, Oksana Mont. Challenges and opportunities for scaling up upcycling businesses – The case of textile and wood upcycling businesses in the UK. Resources, Conservation and Recycling. 2019; 150 ():104439.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJagdeep Singh; Kyungeun Sung; Tim Cooper; Katherine West; Oksana Mont. 2019. "Challenges and opportunities for scaling up upcycling businesses – The case of textile and wood upcycling businesses in the UK." Resources, Conservation and Recycling 150, no. : 104439.
Upcycling presents one of many opportunities for reducing consumption of materials and energy. Despite recent growth evidenced by increasing numbers of practitioners and businesses based on upcycling, it remains a niche activity and requires scaling up to realise its potential benefits. This paper investigates UK household upcycling in order to develop interventions for scaling up upcycling in the UK. Mixed methods were used in four stages: (a) Interviews to gain insights into UK upcycling; (b) a survey to discover key factors influencing UK upcycling; (c) intervention development based on the synthesis of interviews and survey; and (d) use of a semi-Delphi technique to evaluate and develop initial interventions. The results showed approaches to upcycling (e.g., wood, metal and fabric as frequently used materials, online platforms as frequently used source of materials), context for upcycling (e.g., predominant use of home for upcycling), factors influencing UK upcycling with key determinants (i.e., intention, attitude and subjective norm), important demographic characteristics considering a target audience for interventions (i.e., 30+ females) and prioritised interventions for scaling up (e.g., TV and inspirational media and community workshops as short-term high priority interventions). The paper further discusses implications of the study in terms of development of theory and practice of upcycling.
Kyungeun Sung; Tim Cooper; Sarah Kettley. Developing Interventions for Scaling Up UK Upcycling. Energies 2019, 12, 2778 .
AMA StyleKyungeun Sung, Tim Cooper, Sarah Kettley. Developing Interventions for Scaling Up UK Upcycling. Energies. 2019; 12 (14):2778.
Chicago/Turabian StyleKyungeun Sung; Tim Cooper; Sarah Kettley. 2019. "Developing Interventions for Scaling Up UK Upcycling." Energies 12, no. 14: 2778.
Upcycling is creation or modification of any product from used materials, components and products which is of equal or higher quality or value than the compositional elements. Upcycling, in principle, increases material efficiency, reduces waste, energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, and creates employment opportunities. When scaled up to a meaningful level, it could, in theory, contribute significantly to achieving multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). For such potential benefits, upcycling has been practiced in households and businesses, and existing studies have reported on these cases. Relatively little attention has been paid to how universities have utilised upcycling for teaching and learning activities. This paper therefore aims to provide a literature review on the use of upcycling for and in higher education. Systematic literature review was conducted. The results present how upcycling concept and practice have been used as contents, media or tools for teaching sustainability and sustainable practices at universities across countries. This paper extends our understanding of upcycling in the context of higher education for sustainability. The practical implication is that any future university initiatives relating to SDGs could be informed about the applicability and usefulness of upcycling in their initiatives.
Kyungeun Sung. Upcycling for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education: Literature Review. World Sustainability Series 2019, 371 -382.
AMA StyleKyungeun Sung. Upcycling for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education: Literature Review. World Sustainability Series. 2019; ():371-382.
Chicago/Turabian StyleKyungeun Sung. 2019. "Upcycling for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education: Literature Review." World Sustainability Series , no. : 371-382.
Changing consumer behaviour can reduce environmental impacts. Upcycling is one of the understudied yet promising, environmentally sustainable behaviours that has the potential to contribute to the reduction of waste and greenhouse gas emissions. This paper addresses this knowledge gap by exploring factors influencing upcycling for UK makers. The study employed a survey based on Triandis’s theory of interpersonal behaviour and Ajzen’s theory of planned behaviour. The survey results revealed key determinants of upcycling as attitude, intention, and subjective norm, and demographic characteristics of people who are more likely to upcycle frequently as females aged 30+ working in art and design. The paper further discusses the theoretical and practical implications of the study.
Kyungeun Sung; Tim Cooper; Sarah Kettley. Factors Influencing Upcycling for UK Makers. Sustainability 2019, 11, 870 .
AMA StyleKyungeun Sung, Tim Cooper, Sarah Kettley. Factors Influencing Upcycling for UK Makers. Sustainability. 2019; 11 (3):870.
Chicago/Turabian StyleKyungeun Sung; Tim Cooper; Sarah Kettley. 2019. "Factors Influencing Upcycling for UK Makers." Sustainability 11, no. 3: 870.
Kyungeun Sung; Nick Rowan. CAD Education Curricula in Product Design: The Case of De Montfort University, UK. Proceedings of CAD'18 2018, 1 .
AMA StyleKyungeun Sung, Nick Rowan. CAD Education Curricula in Product Design: The Case of De Montfort University, UK. Proceedings of CAD'18. 2018; ():1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleKyungeun Sung; Nick Rowan. 2018. "CAD Education Curricula in Product Design: The Case of De Montfort University, UK." Proceedings of CAD'18 , no. : 1.
Social movements have campaigned for environmental sustainability, most notably in relation to sustainable food production and climate change. Past research on these social movements has paid attention mainly to the relatively well-organised and established initiatives. Less attention has been paid to emerging collective actions by citizens. This chapter therefore aims to provide analyses of one such case, the upcycling movement in the UK, and considers its potential implications. The contributions to knowledge made through research in design for sustainable behaviour, upcycling, and sustainability science are outlined. Challenges for upscaling the upcycling movement are discussed, and further challenges concerning sustainability are raised.
Kyungeun Sung; Tim Cooper; Sarah Kettley. Emerging Social Movements for Sustainability: Understanding and Scaling Up Upcycling in the UK. The Palgrave Handbook of Sustainability 2018, 299 -312.
AMA StyleKyungeun Sung, Tim Cooper, Sarah Kettley. Emerging Social Movements for Sustainability: Understanding and Scaling Up Upcycling in the UK. The Palgrave Handbook of Sustainability. 2018; ():299-312.
Chicago/Turabian StyleKyungeun Sung; Tim Cooper; Sarah Kettley. 2018. "Emerging Social Movements for Sustainability: Understanding and Scaling Up Upcycling in the UK." The Palgrave Handbook of Sustainability , no. : 299-312.
Community-level innovation or action for sustainability is an important strand for sustainable development. As such, researchers investigated grassroots innovations, community-driven development or bottom-up approach. Many studies have focused on expert-led poverty alleviation projects, market-led social enterprises, or activists-led social movements for sustainable development. Relatively little attention has been paid to rather spontaneous, unorganised, citizen’s collective actions. This paper, therefore, aims to analyse one such example in the UK from the perspective of Design for Sustainable Behaviour; and to suggest how behavioural insights could feed into the development of strategies for scaling up collective actions towards sustainability. The selected action (or behaviour) is individual upcycling—creation or modification of any product from used materials for a product of higher quality or value than the original. Interviews with 23 British residents with practical upcycling experiences were analysed to identify some characteristics in individual upcycling behaviour. The results expand current understanding of individual upcycling in terms of the variance in behaviour, behavioural context and potential group differences based on demographic attributes. The paper further links the analytic insights to the ideas of scaling-up.
Kyungeun Sung; Tim Cooper; Sarah Kettley. Individual Upcycling in the UK: Insights for Scaling up Towards Sustainable Development. World Sustainability Series 2016, 193 -227.
AMA StyleKyungeun Sung, Tim Cooper, Sarah Kettley. Individual Upcycling in the UK: Insights for Scaling up Towards Sustainable Development. World Sustainability Series. 2016; ():193-227.
Chicago/Turabian StyleKyungeun Sung; Tim Cooper; Sarah Kettley. 2016. "Individual Upcycling in the UK: Insights for Scaling up Towards Sustainable Development." World Sustainability Series , no. : 193-227.
This work was undertaken in the Sustainable Consumption Research Group at Nottingham Trent University.Sarah Turner is an eco-artist and designer who practices craft-based upcycling with waste plastic bottles and cans to create lighting, sculpture and decorative home interior products. Since 1998, her enthusiasm, creativity and good will have allowed her to gain several high-profile client commissions and to win awards from design, innovation and business competitions. The aim of this portrait is to introduce Sarah’s work and shed light on the resources, knowledge and skills involved in her practice and on the barriers to and drivers for her craft-based upcycling. We consider that Sarah’s work could be one of the stepping stones for a shift towards more sustainable craft practice, both in the United Kingdom and beyond. By exploring the right ingredients for craft-based upcycling, barriers liable to be faced and key drivers that stimulate motivation, we hope that this portrait will inspire and attract more designers and makers to embed upcycling in their future practice
Kyungeun Sung; Tim Cooper. Sarah Turner – Eco-artist and designer through craft-based upcycling. Craft Research 2015, 6, 113 -122.
AMA StyleKyungeun Sung, Tim Cooper. Sarah Turner – Eco-artist and designer through craft-based upcycling. Craft Research. 2015; 6 (1):113-122.
Chicago/Turabian StyleKyungeun Sung; Tim Cooper. 2015. "Sarah Turner – Eco-artist and designer through craft-based upcycling." Craft Research 6, no. 1: 113-122.