Downcycling

Lucia Rigamonti

Chapter 43 in Elgar Encyclopedia of Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment, 2026, pp 150-153 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: Downcycling can be defined as the phenomenon of quality reduction of materials reprocessed from waste (i.e. the so-called recycled materials or secondary materials) relative to their original quality. Among the different causes for downcycling we can find the dilution of high-quality materials caused by joint collection of different waste types and the contamination with undesired substances. Downcycling may imply that: (a) the secondary material replaces the virgin material only to a limited extent, or only after additional treatments have been performed, or for a limited time span; (b) a higher amount of the recycled material is needed than of the virgin material to provide the same functionality; (c) the number of cycles that materials can afford is limited; d) the secondary material needs to be mixed with virgin material or with higher quality secondary material to meet the minimum technical specifications for its utilization.

Keywords: Downgrading; Recycling; Quality of recycling; Substitutability; Contamination; Secondary material (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035309887
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