Recycling means processing a used material so that it can be made into new products instead of being thrown away. Sometimes the new product is the same as the old one, but sometimes the material is recycled for a different use.
An example is PET plastic from drinks bottles. The bottles are collected and sorted, then washed and shredded into small flakes. The flakes are melted and spun into fibres, and the fibres are used to make fleece clothing. The recycled plastic can be slightly less pure than new plastic, so it is often used for something other than food containers.
This process is viable, which means it is worth doing. PET is made from crude oil, which is a finite resource, so recycling saves crude oil. Making fibres from recycled bottles uses less energy than making new plastic from crude oil, so less carbon dioxide is released. It also reduces the waste sent to landfill. Bottles are collected in large numbers and there is a market for fleece, so the recycled product can be sold at a profit.
