Reduce, reuse, repurpose, and now upcycle… the latest green word is taking the world by storm. But what exactly is ‘upcycling’? Turns out it occupies the middle ground between reuse and recycle, whereby value is added to materials that are used for a different purpose...

‘Reduce’ may be the first of the 3Rs, but it’s also the most neglected and hardest to crack. Libby Peake journeys into the average consumer’s mind to find out why, and what can be done to help

We produce too much waste and consume too much energy. Gasification and pyrolysis won’t change this, but can they help us deal with both issues? In the final instalment of our renewable energy series, Libby Peake gets to grips with advanced thermal treatments