upcycle
v.— «William McDonough and Michael Braungart did just that in their book Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things (North Point Press), 2003. The word they coined is “upcycling’ which is the practice of recycling waste materials for use in higher-value products, such as turning beer bottles into building materials, or old lumber into furniture. It is explained that this differs from recycling which turns waste back into the same product over and over.» —“Word Moment” by Ma Carr Ma Carr’s Moments (Glen Ellen, California) May 2, 2006. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
The first person on your street to put out the trash and recycling? That’s your street’s binfluencer, a combination of bin and influencer. In the UK, this term is sometimes used to denote someone who encourages recycling and waste reduction. In the...
A caller in Cooperstown, North Dakota, remembers her West Virginia-born grandmother’s stern warning: Willful waste will lead to woeful want. The more common version, Wilful waste makes woeful want, goes back to the 18th century. Other versions...