An act of recycling.
"The factory decided to recycle all its plastic waste into new products."
cause to repeat a cycle
"The broken conveyor belt caused the production line to recycle, forcing workers to start over from the beginning."
To break down and reuse component materials.
"The factory recycles old plastic bottles by breaking them down into raw pellets to manufacture new containers."
In plain English: To recycle means to turn used items into new materials so they can be made into different products again instead of throwing them away.
"Please recycle your plastic bottles in this bin."
Usage: Use this verb when referring to processing waste materials into new products, rather than simply reusing an item in its original form. Avoid confusing it with "reuse," which implies using something again without breaking it down first.
The word comes from combining the prefix re- with cycle. It originally meant to go around again or repeat a circular process.