# The word recycle.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-recycle/603938>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [November 24, 2011, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-recycle/603938 "2011-11-24T01:21:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 9\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Mewl\_Dear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Mewl\_Dear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mewl_Dear)\
**Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-recycle/603938/1 "2011-11-24T01:21:49Z")

</div>

Is it redundant or just dundant?  
It seems to me the word cycle would work just fine in most cases.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\
**Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-recycle/603938/2 "2011-11-24T01:23:44Z")

</div>

I’d consider the first round of manufacturing for a product to be the 1st cycle. After that, you recycle it back through the process.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Mewl\_Dear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Mewl\_Dear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mewl_Dear)\
**Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-recycle/603938/3 "2011-11-24T01:59:33Z")

</div>

But a cycle can not have one step.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\
**Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-recycle/603938/4 "2011-11-24T02:44:50Z")

</div>

> [@Mewl\_Dear](#):
>
> But a cycle can not have one step.

Unless it’s a unicycle.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Mewl\_Dear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Mewl\_Dear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mewl_Dear)\
**Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-recycle/603938/5 "2011-11-24T03:03:43Z")

</div>

My unicycle has no steps

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\
**Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-recycle/603938/6 "2011-11-24T03:39:41Z")

</div>

Ree… cy… kull?

I’m afraid i’m not familiar with the term, you adorable ragamuffin.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Mewl\_Dear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Mewl\_Dear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mewl_Dear)\
**Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-recycle/603938/7 "2011-11-24T04:00:46Z")

</div>

To obfuscate: how many cycles in a recycle?  
Is it binary?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\
**Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-recycle/603938/8 "2011-11-24T04:14:50Z")

</div>

I’m probably being whooshed, but anyway…

I think **John Mace** got it right. The material goes through the “cycle” of being grown/mined/produced, manufactured into a product, sold, used, and discarded. “Recycling” means taking something from the end of this cycle and putting it through another cycle.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Mewl\_Dear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Mewl\_Dear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mewl_Dear)\
**Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-recycle/603938/9 "2011-11-24T04:24:40Z")

</div>

All part of the cycle.