recycle
/riːˈsʌɪk(ə)l
/verb [with object]
1Convert (waste) into reusable material: car hulks were recycled into new steel (as noun recycling) a call for the recycling of all paper...
- Approximately 40% of papers coming from domestic waste are currently recycled.
- Recycling centers are ubiquitous, helping Denmark boast that half of its waste is recycled.
- Typical of customers is the University of York, which recycles green waste for re-use on flower and shrub beds as mulch, saving costs of disposal and purchase of products.
Synonyms
reuse, reprocess, convert into something, reclaim, recover;
salvage, save
1.1Return (material) to a previous stage in a cyclic process: the amino acids are recycled in the synthesis of other proteins...
- This pathway may also be involved in the senescence process where it may be required for recycling nitrogen from proteins.
- Biotinidase is the enzyme that recycles the vitamin biotin.
- The liver, one of the more versatile organs, recycles the lactic acid by converting it back to glucose for reuse by the muscles and other organs.
1.2Use again: he reserves the right to recycle his own text...
- This, Reynolds tells us somewhat bathetically, was recycled from a rejected text for a French war memorial in 1918.
- He rarely comes up with any new material, he simply recycles his old stuff.
Derivatives
recycler
- All the research we have carried out points to residents wanting to recycle and it is encouraging to see how many people have become recyclers in the past year.
- He said: ‘The council does a lot to promote their image as keen recyclers but will not collect our bottles.’
- It's also one of the world's largest chemical recyclers, storing and treating massive amounts of poisons.