Definition of "downcycle"
downcycle1
verb
third-person singular simple present downcycles, present participle downcycling, simple past and past participle downcycled
(transitive) To convert (waste materials, etc.) into new materials or products of lower quality and reduced functionality.
Quotations
Nike set up a "Reuse-a-Shoe" program to "downcycle" old sneakers. The outsole rubber and midsole foam from used shoes are converted into surface material for running tracks and other athletic facilities and playgrounds. The fabric from the shoe uppers becomes padding under carpets.
2004, Michael Renner, “Moving toward a Less Consumptive Economy”, in Linda Starke, editor, State of the World 2004: A Worldwatch Institute Report on Progress toward a Sustainable Society, New York, N.Y., London: W. W. Norton & Company, page 108
downcycle2
noun
plural downcycles
A period of a cycle where something is decreasing or deteriorating.
Quotations
Because commodity industries, including energy, are driven by costs, a pricing down-cycle brings major cost cutting efforts, often involving restructurings and consolidations to increase economies of scale.
2007, Christopher E. H. Ross, Lane E. Sloan, “Learning from the Past”, in Terra Incognita: A Navigation Aid for Energy Leaders, Tulsa, Okla.: PenWell Corporation, page 36
It is precisely these logical anomalies, paradoxes and problems, which create Samsara's wheel of eternal repeating up-cycles which is followed by eternal repeating down-cycles and vice versa (for example life and death, success and fiasco, joy and sorrow) – as well as the ignorance and suffering when you are caught into this wheel, for example in the experience of nightmare and anxiety.
2014, Morten Tolboll, “The Dream Hypothesis and the Brain-in-jar Hypothesis”, in The Matrix Conspiracy: Part 1, Livermore, Calif.: WingSpan Press
[M]ost experts agree that a downcycle is in progress and are expecting demand from emerging countries and regions such as India, South-East Asia and even Africa, to eventually rebound to the point where it once again outstrips supply.
2016, United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, “Companies are Adjusting to the Downcycle”, in Foreign Direct Investment in Latin America and the Caribbean 2016, [New York, N.Y.?]: United Nations
Again, the current down cycle is anomalous, with the Fed's monetary policies encouraging unusually high levels of stock buybacks and fruitless mergers.
2017, Harry S. Dent, Jr., Andrew Pancholi, “Deep in the Heart of Winter: There’s Just No Denying that Major Winter Cycles Come Once in a Lifetime”, in Teresa van den Barselaar, editor, Zero Hour: Turn the Greatest Political and Financial Upheaval in Modern History to Your Advantage, New York, N.Y.: Portfolio/Penguin