recycling
[ rē-sī′klĭng ]
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.
Words Nearby recycling
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
How to use recycling in a sentence
The system could operate on a closed loop, recycling its water and harnessing the power of the sun.
Thought Kate Middleton was the reigning queen of recycling royals?
And yet his Putin cheerleading increasingly crosses the line into denial or outright recycling of Kremlin propaganda.
Meet Stephen F. Cohen, Vladimir Putin's Best Friend in the American Media | Cathy Young | March 16, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTPretty much everyone else is recycling their old plot points, too.
‘Downton Abbey’ Returns: Everyone Is Sad and So Are We | Kevin Fallon | January 6, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThrough this perpetual recycling of history, nothing new can be created.
He told them about Dunnan's heavy purchases of air-and-water recycling equipment and carniculture and hydroponic material.
Space Viking | Henry Beam PiperThere was also trouble with the air-and-water recycling system.
The Cosmic Computer | Henry Beam Piper
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