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The Waste Hierarchy
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Recycle
Recycling is putting used materials back into the manufacturing chain at a very basic level. They will be broken down, melted, smelted or extruded into new forms. Preferably the quality is high enough that they can be used again in the same application. Often, because of contamination or polymer degradation, this is not the case: They can only be used in less demanding applications, which is called down-cycling.
Very simple, low-cost products, broken goods beyond redemption, rapidly evolving designs, and even the bits that have to be replaced during remanufacture and reuse are good candidates for recycling.
Whilst recycling does have the benefits of keeping material out of landfill and getting us into the recycling mentality, it can have limited energy benefits. This is because recycling still requires a large amount of processing from scratch. Reuse avoids this reprocessing, so look to use this option when you can for maximum environmental impact.