Upcycling polymers: a revolutionary approach to promoting the circular economy

The UPcycling using Additive Manufacturing (UpAM) project seeks to introduce an innovative educational and interactive framework to demonstrate the benefits of upcycling so that any individual can produce their own products using recycled raw materials. For years, societies have been aware that the unlimited consumption of products is unavoidably intertwined with the unlimited production of waste. This is exactly why scientists and researchers have been trying to find alternative and meaningful solutions to the Linear Economy model, a model that dictates a specific sequence of events: extracting raw materials, manufacturing products, consuming and discarding these products. Looking beyond that ‘take, make, dispose’ approach, it was in 1989 that the notion of Circular Economy (CE) was first proposed by Pearce and Turner; a concept that is restorative and regenerative and that involves reusing products, repairing, recycling and upcycling. Therefore, the core element of this innovative and environmentally-friendly model is to rely on system-wide innovative processes in order to redefine products, services and, most importantly, our way of thinking, to design waste out, thus allowing a profound transition to renewable energy sources