ABSTRACT
Recycling has long been a pillar of environmentalism. The recycling symbol of a triangle formed by three chasing arrows is inescapable. Recycling turning something considered to be waste into something with renewed value is therefore ripe for closer examination. This book critiques the fact that the people currently privilege recycling over approaches that could have much greater impact on the problem of waste. The book considers recycling as a contemporary cultural idea related to, but not wholly defined by, our response to material waste. It seeks to reclaim recycling from the environmentalists and waste management specialists, to explore how the term is used in other contexts unconnected to material waste. Recycling was the author's entry point to engaging with design for sustainability, specifically a study of designers' attitudes towards, and use of, recycled materials.
