A qualitative study of the advantages and limitations of integrating downstream Upcycling activities in the undergraduate Industrial Design Curriculum

This study analyses the result of a downstream upcyclingexercise by Korean undergraduate industrial designstudents. It aims at assessing whether design exercisesinvolving the creative reuse of waste, are effective atintroducing students to the issues of waste and Sustainabledesign. The analysis focuses not only on the ability totransform waste into functional products but also assesswhether the products created are viable and functional andwhether they effectively participate in the recirculation ofbiological and technical nutrients. The result of the studyindicates that although the majority of the studentsexpressed satisfaction with the result of their work, theanalysis revealed the products to have poor performances,in some case negative environmental impact and didn'timprove recirculation of the materials. The results alsoindicate that the exercise did not improve student’sbehavior towards sustainability, may excuse wastefulbehaviors and does not effectively challenge the currenttake-make-waste paradigm. The disappointing results of the activity indicate that suchexercise, while not effective on their own, should ratherbe used to highlight the complexity of the problem of waste,the urgent need to change our unsustainable current modesof consumption and effectively introduce holisticclosed-loop systems such as the Cradle to Cradle or theCircular Economy.