Study: Upcycling and Recycling Statistics 2023

Study:
Upcycling and Recycling Statistics 2023

We want to understand the impact of upcycling on sustainability efforts in the fashion industry, which is why we've commissioned independent research on the topic.

This article was commissioned by Missoma on upcycling in fashion.

An ongoing sustainability goal of ours is to move towards circularity. Our first step on this journey is upcycling, from the Deadstock Project to this study. In order to help us and other brands understand upcycling more, we wanted to commission independent research on the topic. Read on to discover the findings.

Recycling. There’s more to it than just separating your cardboard. And while, globally, we’ve been making a conscious effort to recycle things like paper, cans and glass for a number of years, some items still remain quite difficult to recycle in some places.

Disposing of electronics, for example, can be tricky in some places. It can be the same with clothing, old makeup and furniture. But over recent years, there’s been a surge in “upcycling.” This is the process of taking something old that might otherwise be thrown away and giving it a bit of a makeover, a brand new lease of life and keeping it (or even selling it on). We’re fascinated with recycling and upcycling and we wanted to know more about the sorts of things we’re giving a new lease of life too. So we polled 2,000+ people in the UK and crunched some search trends numbers to bring you a global round up of upcycling and recycling statistics for 2023. Here’s what we found.

 

The Quick Edition— Key Statistics

If you’re looking for a summary of the most important findings, they’re right here, with more detail within:

- Almost 1 in 10 people in the UK hasn’t recycled or upcycled a single item in the past year

- The most commonly recycled item in the UK is paper/cardboard, with 61.92% of over 16s having recycled this over the last year

- Over half (54%) have recycled or upcycled clothing in the last year

- Those in Greater London are the least likely to have recycled many different types of items over the last year

 

What Do We Recycle?

To find out what people are recycling, we polled 2,017 people in May 2023 using market research provider Censuswide.

We asked: Which of the following items have you upcycled or recycled in the past year? (check all that apply)

- Cardboard or paper

- Glass bottles or jars

- Cans or tins

- Old clothing

- Old electronics

- Old furniture

- Old jewellery

- NA — I haven’t recycled or upcycled any items in the last year

- Other

 

We found:

Item

% of people in the UK who’ve recycled or upcycled this in the past year

Cardboard or paper

61.92%

Glass bottles or jars

60.19%

Cans or tins

59.49%

Old clothing

54.19%

Old electronics

27.96%

Old furniture

24.29%

Old jewellery

10.96%

N/A – I haven't recycled or upcycled any items in the last year

9.27%

Other

0.55%


 

 

recycling uk statistics

We’re going to delve into some statistics for each type of recycling shortly, but first we want to look at the proportion of people who haven’t recycled or upcycled any items at all in the last year in the UK.

 

How Many People DON’T Recycle?

With a multitude of different bins for household waste and each council with a schedule to collect, recycling the likes of glass, cardboard and cans is really simple in the UK. And we can see from our data that people are getting more creative too and finding ways to upcycle or recycle electricals, furniture and clothing.

But just about 1 in 10 people in the UK says they haven’t recycled a single item in the last 12 months.

We wanted to understand whether this is more prevalent at specific age ranges or within different parts of the UK.

So we dug into the data.

When we look at age specific breakdowns here:

 

Age Range

% who have not recycled anything in the past year

16 to 24

7.09

25 to 34

7.91

35 to 44

8.75

45 to 54

10.54

55+

10.37

 

 

Younger people are much less likely to not recycle or upcycle than older people, according to the statistics from our 2023 recycling survey.

Does gender affect things?

 

Gender

% who have not recycled anything in the past year

Male

8.89

Female

9.63

 

Women are slightly more likely to admit to not having recycled anything in the past year. 

But we saw far greater variations in this response not when we broke responses down by age and gender, but instead by region of the UK.

 

Region

% who have not recycled anything in the past year

East of England

4.66

Greater London

8.61

East Midlands

9.40

West Midlands

9.60

North East

8.14

North West

9.69

Northern Ireland

10.71

Scotland

11.72

South East

13.72

South West

7.47

Wales

9.18

Yorkshire and the Humber

7.14

 

We can see remarkable variations here in the likelihood of someone admitting to not having recycled or upcycled anything in the last year.

At the lower end, fewer than 1 in 20 people (4.66%) in the East of England admit this. Meanwhile, in the South East, 13.72% haven’t recycled anything in the last year.

So let’s dive in and look at the statistics around specific types of recycling.

 

Paper and Card Recycling Statistics

Some quick facts on paper and card recycling according to our survey:

- 61.92% of people in the UK have recycled paper or card over the last year.

- This figure is highest amongst the over 55s (75.6%)

- It’s lowest amongst the 16 to 24s (43.28%)

- More than three quarters of those in the South West (76.44%) have recycled paper or card in the last year

- At the opposite end of the scale, just 53.18% of those in London say the same

    Paper and card is, based on our research, the most commonly recycled item. But there are steep variations in terms of how many people have recycled it in the last year from region to region in particular.

    You can see all of the numbers below.

     

    Group

    % who have recycled paper or cardboard in the past year

    All 

    61.92%

    Gender

    Male

    58.32%

    Female

    65.32%

    Age

    16 - 24

    43.28%

    25 - 34

    48.87%

    35 - 44

    56.56%

    45 - 54

    65.18%

    55+

    75.46%

    Region

    East of England

    66.84%

    Greater London

    53.18%

    East Midlands

    57.05%

    West Midlands

    63.28%

    North East

    55.81%

    North West

    62.11%

    Northern Ireland

    62.50%

    Scotland

    57.93%

    South East

    61.73%

    South West

    76.44%

    Wales

    63.27%

    Yorkshire and the Humber

    63.69%

     

    Glass Bottles and Jars Recycling Statistics

    Just behind card and paper were glass bottles/jars. 60.19% of people said they had recycled or upcycled these items in the last year.

    But again we saw some variation:

    - Women are quite considerably likelier to have recycled or upcycled glass in the last year (64.07% of women compared with 56.08% of men)

    - Much like with paper and glass, we see that the older people are, the likelier they are to have upcycled or recycled glass bottles/jars over the last year

    - Less than half of those in Greater London have recycled or upcycled glass in the last year, in stark contrast with the other end of the scale — the South West, where 70% have

     

      Group

      % who have recycled glass bottles or jars in the past year

      All 

      60.19%

      Gender

      Male

      56.08%

      Female

      64.07%

      Age

      16 - 24

      44.03%

      25 - 34

      46.61%

      35 - 44

      55.63%

      45 - 54

      63.58%

      55+

      72.70%

      Region

      East of England

      65.28%

      Greater London

      49.44%

      East Midlands

      54.36%

      West Midlands

      63.28%

      North East

      50.00%

      North West

      61.67%

      Northern Ireland

      53.57%

      Scotland

      58.62%

      South East

      60.29%

      South West

      70.11%

      Wales

      67.35%

      Yorkshire and the Humber

      65.48%



       

      Cans and Tins Recycling Statistics

      Another common household item that is easily recycled across the country — cans and tins. Recycling and upcycling statistics for these items follow a similar pattern to the above in some ways:

      - Over half of the overall population (59.49%) have recycled or upcycled cans and tins in the last year

      - Again, the older someone is, the likelier they are to have done so

      - London is again the area in which people are least likely to have recycled or upcycled tins and cans in the last year (45.32%)

      - The South West is again the area where people are most likely to have (70.11%)

        Group

        % who have recycled cans or tins in the past year

        All 

        59.49%

        Gender

        Male

        58.43%

        Female

        60.50%

        Age

        16 - 24

        42.54%

        25 - 34

        48.87%

        35 - 44

        55.94%

        45 - 54

        61.98%

        55+

        70.87%

        Region

        East of England

        63.73%

        Greater London

        45.32%

        East Midlands

        61.74%

        West Midlands

        58.19%

        North East

        56.98%

        North West

        59.47%

        Northern Ireland

        60.71%

        Scotland

        56.55%

        South East

        59.93%

        South West

        70.11%

        Wales

        68.37%

        Yorkshire and the Humber

        63.10%

         

        Clothing Recycling Statistics

        This is where things stop following the exact pattern of the above. The main thing with clothing and all the items that follow is that they’re typically not recycled as easily. In other words, you don’t have a bin for them at home and there’s no a standard scheduled council bin collection schedule for this specific type of item.

        With clothing, we’ll talk later about trends in people looking to upcycle and give their clothing a new lease of life. But in terms of people who have recycled or upcycled old clothing in any way at all over the last year, it’s still a majority.

        - 54.19% of people have recycled or upcycled clothing in the last year

        - Women (60.31%) are notably more likely to do so than men (47.70%)

        - The oldest age group, the 55+, are the most likely to do so (63.39%)

        - Regionally, it’s those in Greater London again who are the least likely to upcycle or recycle clothing (47.94%)

        - Those in Wales are the most likely to recycle or upcycle clothing (61.22%)

          Group

          % who have recycled or upcycled old clothing in the past year

          All 

          54.19

          Gender

          Male

          47.70%

          Female

          60.31%

          Age

          16 - 24

          45.15%

          25 - 34

          47.46%

          35 - 44

          53.13%

          45 - 54

          48.24%

          55+

          63.39%

          Region

          East of England

          52.85%

          Greater London

          47.94%

          East Midlands

          53.02%

          West Midlands

          50.28%

          North East

          51.16%

          North West

          56.39%

          Northern Ireland

          55.36%

          Scotland

          55.86%

          South East

          55.60%

          South West

          59.77%

          Wales

          61.22%

          Yorkshire and the Humber

          55.36%

           

          Electronics Recycling Statistics

          Electronics can be difficult to recycle. And as “upcycling” them would often require some electrical expertise as opposed to just a creative flair, it’s perhaps no real surprise that little over a quarter of the population has recycled or upcycled an electrical item over the last year.

          Some other facts:

          - Men are much likelier than women (31.87% vs 24.28%) to recycle or upcycle old electronics

          - Those in London are again the least likely (26.22%)

          - Those in the South West are again the most likely, with almost a third doing so in the last year

           

          Group

          % who have recycled or upcycled electricals in the past year

          All 

          27.96%

          Gender

          Male

          31.87%

          Female

          24.28%

          Age

          16 - 24

          23.88%

          25 - 34

          27.40%

          35 - 44

          28.13%

          45 - 54

          27.48%

          55+

          29.79%

          Region

          East of England

          29.02%

          Greater London

          26.22%

          East Midlands

          30.20%

          West Midlands

          26.55%

          North East

          27.91%

          North West

          29.52%

          Northern Ireland

          26.79%

          Scotland

          26.21%

          South East

          27.44%

          South West

          32.18%

          Wales

          29.59%

          Yorkshire and the Humber

          24.40%

           

          Furniture Upcycling and Recycling Statistics

          Not only is furniture upcycling something of a social media sensation, some people are building businesses out of it. But make no mistake — it’s still quite the minority engaging in recycling or upcycling furniture, with just under a quarter in the last year. Of course, another reason for this relatively low overall number could be that big items like furniture are things are tend to replace less frequently anyway. But let’s look at the statistics:

          - Just under a quarter of people in the UK have upcycled or recycled furniture in the last year

          - It’s the 25 to 34 year olds most likely to do so (31.92%)

          - Unlike other items, Londoners are not the least likely to recycle or upcycle furniture — 26.22% (so that’s over the average) have done so

          - The area where people are least likely to is Scotland (16.55%)

          - The area where people most recycle or upcycle furniture is Northern Ireland (32.14%) 

           

          Group

          % who have recycled or upcycled old furniture in the past year

          All 

          24.29%

          Gender

          Male

          22.47%

          Female

          26.01%

          Age

          16 - 24

          21.64%

          25 - 34

          31.92%

          35 - 44

          26.25%

          45 - 54

          21.09%

          55+

          22.18%

          Region

          East of England

          20.73%

          Greater London

          26.22%

          East Midlands

          21.48%

          West Midlands

          24.86%

          North East

          26.74%

          North West

          22.03%

          Northern Ireland

          32.14%

          Scotland

          16.55%

          South East

          24.91%

          South West

          24.71%

          Wales

          31.63%

          Yorkshire and the Humber

          27.38%

           

           

          Jewellery Upcycling and Recycling Statistics

          Are many of us recycling or upcycling our old jewellery? Now this is a particularly important area for us, given our passion for sustainable jewellery

          According to our statistics:

          - Just over 1 in 10 people in the UK has upcycled or recycled their jewellery in the last year

          - Those aged 16 to 44 are almost twice as likely as those aged 45 and over to recycle or upcycle jewellery, making this the only area where younger people fared so much better in the recycling stakes

          - In the North East, little over 1 in 20 (5.81%) have recycled or upcycled jewellery in the last year

          - At the opposite end of the scale, 14.29% of people in Northern Ireland have

           

          Group

          % who have recycled or upcycled old jewellery in the past year

          All 

          10.96%

          Gender

          Male

          10.01%

          Female

          11.85%

          Age

          16 - 24

          14.18%

          25 - 34

          14.69%

          35 - 44

          14.38%

          45 - 54

          7.03%

          55+

          8.27%

          Region

          East of England

          12.44%

          Greater London

          10.86%

          East Midlands

          11.41%

          West Midlands

          12.99%

          North East

          5.81%

          North West

          12.78%

          Northern Ireland

          14.29%

          Scotland

          8.97%

          South East

          10.83%

          South West

          9.77%

          Wales

          10.20%

          Yorkshire and the Humber

          9.52%

           

          Recycling Help in Search

          A great way to gain a little insight into recycling and upcycling trends is to look at what people are Googling on the topic. As much as we all rush off to Google to find a hotel, look up health symptoms or ask for photos of celebs, so too (it turns out) we head there for help with our recycling.

          We turn to Google in our thousands for ideas and inspiration for giving a new lease of life to old items. So we took a look, using kwfinder.com, at the estimated number of searches each month in Google across the USA, UK, Australia and Canada, for various queries relating to recycling.

          We looked up the number of searches for each of the following queries related to recycling:

          - Recycle mobile phones (“Recycle cell phones” in US & Canada)

          - Recycle furniture

          - Recycle coffee pods

          - Recycle books

          - Recycle lightbulbs

          - Recycle clothes

          - Recycled electronics

          - Recycle CDs

          We looked up monthly search volumes from January 2020 to March 2023.

          We then added up each month in 2020, 2021 and 2022 to give us totals for the years. Our findings are outlined below.

           

          UK Recycling Related Searches

          In the UK, the general trend is one of fewer searches per year since 2020.  A few potential reasons for this:

          - As people become more recycling savvy they have less need to look for information on how to do it

          - People were spending more time at home in 2020 (Covid lockdowns) and therefore possibly clearing things out and doing more home renovation projects, leading to more need to search for things like this

          The trend of fewer searches per year is bucked for coffee pods. 27800 searches were made in 2022 in the UK for “recycle coffee pods.”

           

          Query

          Searches in Google UK 2020

          2021

          2022

          Recycle mobile phones

          18834

          15633

          15657

          Recycle furniture

          31700

          28500

          22100

          Recycle coffee pods

          17280

          21600

          27800

          Recycle books

          30500

          32200

          26500

          Recycle lightbulbs

          12950

          13060

          12030

          Recycle clothes

          91200

          70100

          51500

          Recycle electronics

          7525

          5701

          5293

          Recycle CDs

          11940

          10460

          8820

           

          USA Recycling Related Searches

          It’a a similar story in the USA, where for many of the queries we looked at, searches declined over the last few years.

          The most notable query that bucks this trend in the USA is “recycle clothes” which saw 106,500 searches in 2022, compared with 86,700 on 2020.

           

          Query

          Searches in Google USA 2020

          2021

          2022

          Recycle cell phones

          36200

          29500

          28800

          Recycle furniture

          27800

          23400

          23400

          Recycle coffee pods

          5820

          5420

          5510

          Recycle books

          44300

          41900

          41200

          Recycle lightbulbs

          37200

          30500

          33800

          Recycle clothes

          86700

          93000

          106500

          Recycle electronics

          92196

          50743

          47356

          Recycle CDs

          24800

          19400

          16500

           

          Canada Recycling Related Searches

          Similar trends follow in Canada as in the USA (albeit with notably lower overall numbers down to a smaller population).

           

          Query

          Searches in Google CA 2020

          2021

          2022

          Recycle cell phones

          2460

          2470

          2520

          Recycle furniture

          5570

          5490

          4560

          Recycle coffee pods

          2110

          2020

          1510

          Recycle books

          2940

          2910

          2690

          Recycle lightbulbs

          6520

          5260

          5150

          Recycle clothes

          10440

          10720

          10160

          Recycle electronics

          10320

          8398

          6954

          Recycle CDs

          3790

          3170

          2500

           

          Australia Recycling Related Searches

          Trends are also repeated in Australia, with fewer searches for almost all of the queries we looked at with the exception of clothing once again.

           

          Query

          Searches in Google AU 2020

          2021

          2022

          Recycle mobile phones

          6790

          6590

          5620

          Recycle furniture

          9390

          7750

          8020

          Recycle coffee pods

          9400

          7860

          7360

          Recycle books

          4070

          4620

          3920

          Recycle lightbulbs

          3370

          3930

          3810

          Recycle clothes

          17700

          20700

          22200

          Recycle electronics

          13500

          12780

          13500

          Recycle CDs

          6260

          5060

          5150

           

          Searches in these four English speaking nations weighted by population

          But of course, the number of searches made for any given query in any given country in Google is tied a lot to the population of that country.

          So we took the data we had and added together 2020, 2021 and 2022 figures and then weighted this total by population, so we can see how many searches over the last 3 years in total there have been per 1,000 people in the population.

          We found:

          - Interest in recycling queries like these is generally significantly higher in Australia and the UK and in the USA and Canada

          - When we looked up “recycle clothing” and weighted these searches against population, the UK saw 1,314 searches per million people in the population in 20, 21 and 22 combined, compared with just 495 in Australia, 385 in the USA and 226 in Canada

          - The clothes variant keyword was the one with the highest searches per million in all of the four countries we looked at. This was followed by furniture.

          Here’s the data:



          Searches per million people in the population in Google in that specific country in 2020, 2021 and 2022 combined

          Query

          UK

          US

          Canada

          Australia

          Recycle mobile phones (cell phones for US & Canada)

          738

          285

          197

          745

          Recycle furniture

          1212

          225

          414

          987

          Recycle coffee pods

          982

          51

          149

          965

          Recycle books

          1314

          385

          226

          495

          Recycle light bulbs

          560

          307

          449

          436

          Recycle clothes

          3135

          865

          830

          2376

          Recycle electronics

          273

          575

          680

          1560

          Recycle CDs

          460

          183

          251

          646

           

           

           

          Upcycling Trends in 2024 - Insagram

          Upcycling has become not only a hobby, but a business for many. And there are countless communities online where people share their projects, look for ideas and get inspiration for upcycling projects

          Some fast facts (as of January 2024):

          - There are 5.6 million posts on Instagram using the hashtag #upcycling

          - There are 443,000 posts with the hashtag #upcyclingfashion

          - There are 105,000 posts with the hashtag #upcyclingfurniture

          - There are a further 137,700 with #upcyclingideas

          - Youtube’s most viewed video on the topic of upcycling has been seen more than 61 million times (up from 56 million times when we first checked in May 2023. In other words, that video is averaging more than 600,00 views every single month).

           

          A New Lease of Life?

          Upcycling and recycling obviously have benefits for the environment. But with the former in particular, giving a new lease of life to an old or dated piece of furniture, clothing or jewellery is also incredibly fulfilling.

          We’re absolutely thrilled to see trends that suggest people are recycling as part of their daily habits now. And we’re not going to lie, checking out people’s upcycling projects on Instagram is addictive.