变废为宝

biàn fèi wéi bǎo

to turn waste into something valuable

Character by character

变biàn
turn

废fèi
waste

为wéi
into

宝bǎo
treasure

这家公司用旧塑料瓶做衣服，真是变废为宝。

This company makes clothes from old plastic bottles: that really is turning waste into treasure.

Tone: positive (praise).

为 is wéi, “to become”. A favourite slogan of recycling campaigns, factory reports and school craft projects.

Learn this in Lesson 12 · HSK 5: 小区生活与垃圾分类 (Life in the compound, and sorting the rubbish)

A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.