Reprocessing does not equal recycling. Recycling is the act of processing used or abandoned materials for use in creating new products. Recycling involves altering the physical form of an object or material and making a new object from the altered material. It thereby distinguishes itself from re-use, which does not alter the physical form of an object. By-products and residual material accrued during production and consumption are thereby re-introduced into the production-consumption-cycle. Three types of recycling can be distinguished:
1. Re-use – the repeated use of a product or material for the same purpose
2. Further application – by-products and residual material for new purposes after suitablephysical, chemical or biological pre-treatment
3. Further utilization – basic chemical elements are retrieved out of by-products and residual material and re-introduced into the production process
