#3. Five emerging trends in upcycling across Asia

Enabling people to participate in recycling generates a sense of purpose. The trending hashtag #secondlife in China illustrates a desire to reuse products and contribute to a cleaner environment. Mooncakes are a timeless treat during China’s Mid-Autumn Festival.

The Peninsula Beijing created recyclable mooncake gift boxes and invited artist Cao Yun to integrate donated boxes into artwork. Nespresso and Chinese Gen Z skate brand Do By Heart recycled coffee machine capsules to produce a limited edition skateboard.

Consumers want brands to make upcycling interactive so they can take part in repurposing more everyday items. One approach is to team up with artists and well-known creative talents who can help can improve upcycling participation rates.

Young consumers engage with brands, products, and campaigns that enable them to learn about issues that matter. Inspiring kids to donate disused items from a young age is the mission of Terra SG in Singapore. It works with the Ministry of Education to offer hands-on upcycling workshops for schools.

Vietnam’s first kindergarten constructed entirely from upcycled plastics opened in the village of Muong Khong. It generated sizeable media coverage and inspired other similar projects.

Social upcycling enterprises offer mindful opportunities for shoppers and help them support small communities. Providing people with "back stories" about the materials and craft skills used in upcycling initiatives enhances interest.

Mymoniko works with artisan workshops in Malaysia and Cambodia to transform traditional Japanese kimono fabrics into clutches and purses. Its success has inspired similar initiatives region-wide.

In Jakarta, XSProject is a community empowerment project to convert plastic and packaging into golf bags and guitar cases. It also provides scholarships for underprivileged children who collect trash at landfills to learn creative skills.

The regenerative food sector is forecast to expand rapidly across Asia. Scientific research is forging new ways to convert by-products into base ingredients. Vital nutrients and minerals discarded in food waste could help alleviate various ailments and illnesses.

In Vietnam, seafood producers transform shrimp waste, which is rich in chitosan and collagen, into cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. Across Asia, staple foods like noodles and rice are carbohydrates and diabetes is widespread.

Kosmode Health in Singapore harnesses spent barley grains from breweries to make protein-rich, starchless noodles. These provide nutrition for aging and diabetic populations without causing a glycemic blood sugar spike.

The appeal of upcycling is elevated when it creates functional products that fulfill a specific need. Numerous proof-of-concept initiatives are underway to develop constructive materials from waste items.

In New Zealand, NZ Post, Packaging Forum, and Future Post collect food and pet product packaging from households in areas without recycling facilities.

The soft plastics are upcycled into small chips and used to make fences and garden posts for homes and farms. In Indonesia, a construction research project funded by Japan’s government successfully tested disposable baby diapers to replace sand in the concrete blocks to build low-carbon houses.