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

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

Inflected Forms

noun

• 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

GM also inked a deal with Redwood Materials for battery recycling and “second-life” battery packs.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 9, 2026

Not so fast, because what we are seeing in the AI ecosystem is still largely the result of revenue recycling and circular demand dynamics.

From Barron's • Jun. 5, 2026

She said ministers "are committed to going further" by holding retailers to account if they do not have vape recycling bins.

From BBC • Jun. 1, 2026

“Geopolitical developments may lead to shifts in global capital flows, including changes in the recycling of oil revenues,” the ECB said.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 27, 2026

The constant evolution or recycling of new strains of flu, with differing antigens, explains why your having gotten flu two years ago didn’t protect you against the different strain that arrived this year.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond