Presentation slides on "Understanding upcycling and circular economy and their interrelationships through literature review for design education" presented at ICED23 (International Conference on Engineering Design 2023) in July 2023 at the University of Bordeaux, France.

1. Understanding upcycling and circular
economy and their interrelationships through
literature review for design education
Kyungeun Sung, De Montfort University, UK
International Conference on Engineering Design
(ICED) 2023 at the University of Bordeaux in
Bordeaux, France (24-28 July 2023)

2. Introduction
 Changes in education for the transition from a linear economy to a circular
economy (CE) becoming one of the priorities in HE
 Aligned with CE, emerging ‘upcycling’ as a promising umbrella concept and practice
incorporating a variety of material processes including various CE practices (e.g.
creative and innovative repair, reuse, refurbishment, redesign, and remanufacturing)
 Concepts and practices in CE and upcycling overlapping
  confusion and misunderstanding by some academics and professionals
  beneficial to distinguish between these two
  offering clear guidance and recommendations to future designers and engineers
Understanding upcycling and circular economy and their interrelationships through literature review for design education
Dr Kyungeun Sung

3. Approach
 Theoretical, narrative review
 One bibliographic database (Google Scholar)
 Search keywords: “upcycling” and “circular economy”
 Inclusion criteria: English publication including journal articles, conference
proceedings and PhD theses only
 Contents scanning and check for content relevance
 Review: definition of the terms, descriptions, and examples of the relevant
principles or practices
 Review: chronological review + theoretical saturation to the review narration
Understanding upcycling and circular economy and their interrelationships through literature review for design education
Dr Kyungeun Sung

4. Screening
Understanding upcycling and circular economy and their interrelationships through literature review for design education
Dr Kyungeun Sung
Screening
Contents review
58 in total
(52 journal articles;
5 conference proceedings;
1 PhD thesis)
50 journal articles
52 in total
(46 journal articles;
5 conference proceedings;
1 PhD thesis)
42 journal articles
Upcycling publications CE publications

5. Results: literature trends
 Upcycling literature: published in 201
1-2022 (majority in 2019-2022)
 CE literature: published in 2006-2022 (majority in 2016-2021)
 Upcycling literature categories: plastic upcycling (54%); consumer upcycling
(14%); fashion and textile upcycling (10%); biowaste upcycling (6%)
 CE literature categories: conceptual (38%); CE in China (17%); review (12%)
Understanding upcycling and circular economy and their interrelationships through literature review for design education
Dr Kyungeun Sung

6. Results: upcycling
To summarise, upcycling is an effective design-based solution and green practice:
 utilising the materials, components and products that are discarded, no longer in use
or about to be disposed of
 incorporating multiple material processes (e.g. 'creative' or 'innovative' reuse,
repurpose, repair, upgrade, redesign, reconstruction, refashion, remanufacture,
advanced recycling) involving minimisation of waste and toxicity, saving in
energy and water, and reduction in emissions and pollution
 creating the outputs of new/modified products and materials with higher
quality and values (economic, aesthetic, environmental) compared to the
original/compositional elements.
Understanding upcycling and circular economy and their interrelationships through literature review for design education
Dr Kyungeun Sung

7. Results: circular economy
To summarise, CE is an alternative economic model and industrial system (of production and
consumption) designed to be restorative or regenerative:
 by (i) restructuring the material flows from the linear approach (take make use and dispose) to
the circular one (e.g. slowing and closing resource loops, or narrowing resource flows); (ii) relying on
renewable energy, (iii) minimising, tracking and eliminating the use of toxic chemicals, (iv)
utilising applicable principles (e.g. refuse, rethink, reduce, reuse, repair, refurbish, remanufacture,
repurpose, recycle and recover), and (v) actioning in circular product design and production,
business models, technology development, cross-cycle and cross-sector
collaboration, and supportive environment including policies conducive to CE
 operated in micro (enterprises and consumers), meso (economic agents in symbiosis), and macro
(cities, regions and governments) levels
 resulting in environmental benefits such as increased resource/material efficiency and reduced
wastes and emissions as well as socio-economic benefits such as reduced costs for raw materials,
energy, waste management and emissions control, and new employment opportunities
Understanding upcycling and circular economy and their interrelationships through literature review for design education
Dr Kyungeun Sung

8. Results: comparison
UPCYCLING CIRCULAR ECONOMY
WHAT
Effective, design-based solution and a
green practice.
An alternative economic model and industrial
system of production and consumption
designed to be restorative or regenerative.
INPUT MATERIALS
The materials, components and products
that are discarded, no longer in use or
about to be disposed of.
Virgin and synthetic materials, components and
products that are discarded, and no longer in use
or about to be disposed of.
PRINCIPLES OR PRACTICES
‘Creative’ or ‘innovative’ reuse, repurpose,
repair, upgrade, redesign, reconstruction,
refashion, remanufacture, advanced
recycling, and more.
Refuse, rethink, reduce, reuse, repair,
refurbish, remanufacture, repurpose, recycle,
recover and more.
Understanding upcycling and circular economy and their interrelationships through literature review for design education
Dr Kyungeun Sung

9. Understanding upcycling and circular economy and their interrelationships through literature review for design education
Dr Kyungeun Sung
Results: literature review
UPCYCLING CIRCULAR ECONOMY
HOW
- Minimising waste and
toxicity.
- Saving energy and
water.
- Reducing emissions
and pollution.
- Restructuring the material flows from the linear approach
(take, make use, and dispose of) to the circular one (e.g., slowing
and closing resource loops or narrowing resource flows).
- Relying on renewable energy.
- Minimising, tracking, and eliminating the use of toxic chemicals.
- Actioning in circular product design and production, business
models, technology development, cross-cycle and cross-sector
collaboration, and supportive environment, including policies
conducive to CE.
OPERATION
In micro (enterprises and
consumers) and meso (economic
agents in symbiosis) levels
In micro (enterprises and consumers), meso (economic
agents in symbiosis), and macro (cities, regions, and
governments) levels

10. Results: literature review
UPCYCLING CIRCULAR ECONOMY
OUTCOME
New/modified products and
materials with higher quality
and values (economic, aesthetic,
environmental) than the
original/compositional
elements.
- New/improved policies, regulations, guidelines, or governance systems.
- New/improved partnerships or collaborations (industrial symbiosis).
- New/improved business models.
- New/improved supply chain management systems.
- New/improved production or manufacturing systems.
- New products for long-life / product-life extension.
- New biodegradable products.
- New products using fewer resources.
- Sharing or leasing services (renting, pooling).
- Product service system.
- New/improved reuse initiatives (e.g., second-hand shops).
- Incentivised product return service.
- Upgraded products.
- Remanufactured or refurbished products and parts.
- Repaired products.
- Recycled materials.
- Recovered energy.
- …

11. Results: literature review
Common benefits / end goals:
 Environmental benefits such as increased resource/material efficiency and
reduced waste and emissions.
 Socio-economic benefits such as reduced costs for raw materials, energy,
waste management, emissions control, and new employment opportunities.
Understanding upcycling and circular economy and their interrelationships through literature review for design education
Dr Kyungeun Sung

12. Results: upcycling as part of CE
Understanding upcycling and circular economy and their interrelationships through literature review for design education
Dr Kyungeun Sung

13. Discussion and conclusion
 Theoretical, narrative review without exhaustive results (c.f. systematic review)
 One bibliographic database
 Narrow inclusion criteria
 Arbitrary cut-off point for search
 Limited search keywords
 Omission of related concepts (e.g. product life extension, life cycle engineering, end-
of-use treatment, product value retention)
 Potential future rare use of the term in engineering and manufacturing
 Challenging semantic comparison depending on the context and cultural differences
 Upcycling as part of CE – making these two concepts incomparable
 Future work: test, expand, further develop, and refine teaching materials
Understanding upcycling and circular economy and their interrelationships through literature review for design education
Dr Kyungeun Sung

14. Acknowledgements
 AHRC Research Networking grant for International Upcycling Research Network
[grant number AH/W007134/1]
 Staff Innovation Allowance from De Montfort University (DMU)
 DMU Faculty (Arts, Design and Humanities) Enhancing Research Culture fund
 Guy Bingham, Stuart Lawson, Kelley Wilder, Kate Cheyne, Siobhan Keenan, Deborah
Cartmell, Heather McLaughlin
 Special thanks to the British Science Festival 2022 contributors (as my initial
inspirations): Ashwathy Satheesan, Christopher Brosse, Elizabeth Burton, Hye-won
Lim, Kevin Cheung, Mary O’Neill, Ralitsa Debrah, Sabine Lettmann, Sally
Gaukrodger-Cowan, and student volunteers from the BA Fine Art at DMU (Chloe
Bates, Helen Newbold, Jonny Bennett, Kaye Axon and Lyn Landon).
Understanding upcycling and circular economy and their interrelationships through literature review for design education
Dr Kyungeun Sung

15. Dr Kyungeun Sung
Senior Lecturer in Product Design
De Montfort University
Gateway House, Leicester, UK
Email: Kyungeun.sung@dmu.ac.uk
Phone: +44 (0)116 207 8498
Website:
https://www.kyungeunsung.com/home
Thank you. Any questions? 
Understanding upcycling and circular economy and their interrelationships through literature review for design education
Dr Kyungeun Sung