Definition

Noun: A facility or industrial site designed and equipped to receive, sort, process, and convert used or waste materials into new, usable materials or products, thereby diverting them from landfills.

Usage

The term "recycling plant" refers specifically to the industrial facility where the mechanical and chemical processes of recycling occur. It is a compound noun.

Examples

• The city built a new recycling plant to handle the increasing volume of plastic and cardboard.
• All collected glass bottles are taken to the recycling plant to be crushed and melted into new glass.
• The recycling plant operates 24 hours a day to process municipal solid waste.

Advanced Usage

• "to be sent to a recycling plant": Describes the destination of collected recyclable materials.
  • The separated aluminum cans are sent to a recycling plant.
• "recycling plant operations/workers": Refers to the activities or personnel at such a facility.
  • Recycling plant workers sort materials on a fast-moving conveyor belt.

Variants and Related Words

• Recycling center (n): Often a smaller, sometimes public-drop-off location for collecting recyclables, which may then be sent to a full-scale recycling plant.
• Materials recovery facility (MRF) (n): A more technical term for a plant that receives, separates, and prepares recyclable materials for marketing to end-user manufacturers.
• Reprocessing plant (n): A broader term that can include facilities for recycling nuclear fuel or other specific materials.

Synonyms

• Reprocessing facility
• Waste recovery plant
• MRF (Materials Recovery Facility)

Related Phrases

• "to process at a recycling plant": The action performed at the facility.
  • The mixed paper will be processed at the recycling plant.
• "output of a recycling plant": The finished, recycled materials produced.
  • The main output of the recycling plant is clean plastic flakes.

Noun

1. a plant for reprocessing used or abandoned materials