Showing Results for "recycling"

See Also:

• present participle of recycle.

recycling

American  

[ree-sahyk-ling] / riˈsaɪk lɪŋ /

noun

recyclings plural

1. the collection and processing of used or waste materials so as to make them suitable for reuse, often through a publicly administered program.

2. the act or practice of reusing or adapting something for a different purpose without altering its essential form or nature.

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adjective

1. relating to or engaging in the collection and processing of used or waste materials so as to make them suitable for reuse, or the practice of reusing or adapting things for a different purpose.

recycling Scientific  

/ rē-sī′klĭng /

1. The collection and often reprocessing of discarded materials for reuse. Recycled materials include those used in manufacturing processes and those used in consumer products. The recycled material is often degraded somewhat by use or processing and therefore must be converted to another purpose. For example, the processing of recycled newspaper and other paper wastes usually shortens their fibers, and the material cannot be used to make high-grade paper. Instead, it can be reprocessed to make cardboard or insulation. Recycling helps reduce pollution, prolong the usefulness of landfills, and conserve natural resources.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• anti-recycling
  adjective
• nonrecycling
  adjective
• post-recycling
  adjective
• pro-recycling
  adjective
• self-recycling
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• recyclings
  plural

Explanation

The process of taking trash and turning it into new materials is recycling. It's thanks to recycling that a new playground slide can be partly made of used plastic milk jugs. Only some materials are eligible for recycling — aluminum, steel, glass, paper, and some kinds of plastic. These are typically the things you toss in your recycling bin (like empty soda cans and pickle jars). Recycling, or "reusing materials," was first used in an industrial context, from re-, "again," and cycle, "move through a repeating event." The process of making something, melting it down, and then making it again captures the idea of recycling.

Example Sentences

Some 47 million tons of residential recyclable material is generated annually, with only 21% of that material being recycled, according to The Recycling Partnership, a nonprofit.

From Barron's • Jun. 17, 2026

Appeared in the May 14, 2026, print edition as 'Senators Seek Boost For Water Recycling'.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 13, 2026

“There are still contracts that are being fulfilled, and they’re usually quarterly or monthly,” said Sally Houghton, executive director of the PET Recycling Corporation of California.

From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2026

According to Defra's Simpler Recycling guidance, from 31 March, waste collectors must collect the following separately:

From BBC • Mar. 30, 2026

Recycling, salvage, ever-deeper mine shafts and tunnels, repeated sweeps of the Earth's sea beds and planetary and satellites' crusts, trenches, beds and craters offered insufficient returns.

From The Universe — or Nothing by Moldeven, Meyer