the upcycling industry

7/29/2019 The Upcycling Industry

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Growing and Profiting froman Emerging, Sustainable Industry

Andrew Sell Chief Hipcycler

Hipcycle

Fairleigh Dickinson University

Institute for Sustainable Enterprise

Breakfast Seminar Series October 21, 2011

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1. What is Upcycling?

2. The Upcycling Industry

3. Marketing Upcycled Products to Consumers

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Upcycling is the process ofconverting waste materials or

useless products into new

materials or products of better

quality or a higherenvironmental value.

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Two kinds of upcycling:1) taking materials that today cannot be

practically recycled and making them

into something useful.

2) taking materials that can be recycled,but rather than breaking down the

item into their base elements and

building up something new, they are

used in some version of their current

state.

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Lingomaybe even some buzzwords:

Upcycling and downcycling

Upcycling vs. reused

Reclaimed Vintage

trashion

De-stashed

New old stock (NOS)

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1. Yes, it is an industry!

2. Small, disaggregated

3. Its growing.

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Etsy product

searches for the

term upcycled

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Why its growing:

The economy is down: frugality The continued consumer interest in the

environment

An industrial aesthetic is in right now

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Industry segments:

1. Cottage industry; artists and

crafters; etsy.com

2. Entrepreneurs that have built

companies from the ground up

around upcycling

3. Sneaking into the mainstream:established firms experimenting

with the concept

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Nice! Ick!


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Batik Cabinet crafted with

reclaimed print blocks ($699)

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Desk with reclaimed wood

faade ($1499)


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Upcycled

Cardboard

pendant lamp

($249)

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Darjeeling Dining Table

reclaimed from railroad

ties ($899)


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Reclaimed French

Floorboard Coffee Table

($1195)

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In some ways, its a subset of traditional green

marketing

The challenge of marketing products that are

basically trash.


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Especially in todays economy, most consumers

wont pay extra for a green product.

Move beyond educational, and be actionable


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The upcycling industry: small, fragmented,

growing, and full of innovation

Starting to catch the attention of broader

audiences both on the consumer and

corporate side

Green marketing principals applied to

upcycling: provide what consumers want,and move beyond environmental education

and facilitate consumers to take action


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[email protected]

1-855-HIPCYCLE

www.hipcycle.com

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[email protected]

1-855-HIPCYCLE

www.hipcycle.com

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the upcycling industry

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