| Resource recovery, also known as reuse or |
 |
| recycling,
refers to the collection of originally |
| discarded materials,
decomposing them to make |
| new products, or the
collection of used products, |
| cleaning and processing,
and then selling them. |
| Compared with "traditional"
waste disposal, |
| recycling can save resources and
reduce |
| greenhouse gas emissions (for example,
compare |
| plastic production[1][2]). Resource recycling
can |
| prevent the waste of potentially useful resources
|
| and reduce the consumption of raw materials,
|
| thereby reducing: energy consumption, air pollution |
| (self-incineration) and water pollution |