From a distance, it looks like a crystal chandelier. Take a closer look and one will notice that the "bulbs" are actually toothpaste tube covers.

It is not the only upcycling item with aesthetic appeal on display at an exhibition in Guangzhou.

Used tires are transformed into shoes, rocking horses and flowerpots, and a film reel is turned into a fashionable bag handle.

Upcycling is the process of converting waste materials or useless products into new materials or products of better quality.

"It prolongs the life of the material or product by giving it new, better values," says Zhang Jun, vice-director of the industrial design department of Hunan University.

"Recycling, however, is actually 'downcycling'. For example, the plastic recycled from a mineral water bottle cannot be used to make containers of drinking water because of the chemicals added in the process of recycling. It can be used to make buckets of lower sanity requirement."

The term upcycling first appeared about two decades ago in the West.

Upcycling has enjoyed rapid development in the past three years, widely applied in the small artisan sector in Europe and the US, according to Angus Bjarnason, director of British Council Guangzhou Office.