| Recycler | |
|---|---|
 Building in Beyond Earth | |
| Cost | 75 
|
| Maintenance | 1  Energy
|
| Requires | Chemistry |
| Specialist slots | None |
| Effect | +2 Production +1 Production from Int'l and Station Trade Routes |
| Notes | None |
History[ | ]
A materials recovery facility – or as the colonists termed it, a “recycler” – separates and prepares waste materials for alternate end-use production. The early colonial recyclers used mechanical-biological treatments, such as anaerobic digestion or biodrying or gasification; later facilities used more advanced techniques, adapted by colonial scientists for use on this planet. One such method found effective here is pyrolysis, the thermochemical rapid decomposition of organic materials in the absence of oxygen, producing – among other things – biochar and biofuel. Another efficient method is biomass catalytic partial oxidation, which leads to the production of syngas, used in a number of types of heavy construction equipment. Waste autoclaves convert various organic wastes into exceedingly rich fertilizer and animal feeds, boosting agricultural production on colonial farms. And recent plasma-arc methods are able to separate the components of alloys for reuse by manufacturing plants, notably those requiring rare earth metals. Without recyclers, it is doubtful that some settlements would have reached the size they now are, as limited Earth-type resources would have halted expansion before native substitutes could have been discovered.