How the Recycler Works
A recycler breaks an item back down into roughly 50% of its crafting cost, processing one slot at a time. It's how most of your scrap is made -- you loot components and barrels, then shred the surplus.
Two habits matter from day one: - Empty the output regularly. If the output slots fill up, the recycler PAUSES and stops processing -- you'll stand there wasting time. - Recycle some items SEPARATELY. Sewing kits, CCTV cameras, and targeting computers each return slightly more when recycled alone than when stacked together, so it's worth splitting them.
The grinding sound carries, so recycle before you haul loot home, not after.
Safe Zone vs Monument
Since the May 2024 change, WHERE you recycle changes your return:
- Monument recyclers give the full ~60% yield and run the standard 5 seconds per bundle.
- Safe-zone recyclers (Outpost, Bandit Camp, Fishing Village) give only ~40% and take ~8 seconds per bundle.
It's a risk-reward call. Early wipe, the yield gap is small and travel is low-risk -- use safe zones and repeat trips freely. Late wipe, the yield difference is big enough that you weigh it against the PvP danger of a monument run.
Critical warning: a safe zone stops you being KILLED, not ROBBED. Anyone can open your recycler and empty the output slot. Split your items across multiple recyclers so a single grab can't take everything.
The Key Components
What the components you'll loot are actually FOR:
- Gears -- garage doors, shotgun traps, workbenches, and vending machines. Weak recycle value, high build demand: keep a buffer of ~10.
- Metal Springs -- every high-tier gun needs them (an AK alone takes 4). Hold them until your armory is built; recycle only true surplus.
- Sheet Metal -- sheet metal doors and heavy armor, and it's the best metal-fragment return in the recycler. Shred extras for metal without guilt.
- Tech Trash -- the prize: it goes into C4 and CCTV. Early wipe you can recycle it for strong scrap; late wipe, HOARD it for raiding.
- Rope -- armor, ladders, sewing kits, traps. Constant crafting demand and poor recycle value: never recycle unless you're drowning in it.
What to Recycle, What to Keep
A simple wipe-stage framework:
- Early game: recycle sheet metal, road signs, tarps, and propane tanks. KEEP rope, gears, and a few tools.
- Mid game: recycle tech trash, rifle bodies, semi-auto bodies, and spare metal springs. KEEP SMG bodies, gears, and pipes.
- Late game: recycle surplus rifle bodies, tech trash, and springs; KEEP rare components for raids and turrets.
The one rule that always holds: NEVER sell looted weapons to an NPC -- they recycle into far more value (metal frags + a weapon body + scrap) than the flat scrap an Outpost vendor pays. Recycle every gun you don't need.
Recycler Locations & Tips
Where to find one:
- Safe zones (40%, no PvP death): Outpost (three recyclers), Bandit Camp (three, in the dredge), and Fishing Village.
- Monuments (60%, PvP risk): Lighthouse, Gas Station, Airfield, Train Yard, Water Treatment, Power Plant, Junkyard, Harbor, Satellite Dish, Sphere Tank, Launch Site, Military Tunnels, and more.
A few monuments (Giant Excavator, Launch Site, Military Tunnels) tend to drop components with above-average HQM, so recycling on-site there is extra worthwhile. Best practice: weave a recycler into your existing farm route -- recycle at Gas Station or Airfield while you're already there -- and travel light, carrying only what you're shredding plus a weapon. Hauling farm loot, building mats, AND recycling at once just makes you an easy kill.