What is the importance of recycling for sustainability?

Recycling is the process of reprocessing discarded reusable materials into a new product. By collecting, separating and recycling reusable materials, raw materials are recovered and resources are conserved. The recovered raw materials can be used for the production of new products and waste is avoided. However, recycling is only truly sustainable when the raw materials can be recovered with as little energy input as possible, and the resulting material is of high purity. For the sustainability of a product, the reduction of raw material use in production and a longer service life have a higher significance.