The recycler is such an important machine. The minute I have the resources to make one, I do it. I like to level up my trading as soon as possible, so I can start trading for metal and titanium ore.

10. Plank

Tree farm with all available trees in Raft.

Plank stats:

• Value: 8
• Qty. to fill the recycler: 75
• Qty. to make 1 trash cube: 19

Planks are a great resource for the recycler, as they're one of the most common items in the game. It's at the bottom of my list because I'd rather use my planks for building and crafting.

Why is it a great recycler item:

• It takes just shy of a stack to make one trash cube. It’s not bad if you have an abundance of planks.
• Once you get far enough in the game and you’ve built up most of your raft, you are going to collect way more planks than you’ll ever need.
• You can find planks everywhere: drifting through the ocean, in loot boxes, and on trees that spawn on every single island.

How to get planks:

The best way to get planks is to either make a large tree farm on your raft or to explore big islands. Out of all the story islands, Tangaroa is the best place to chop down trees. There are more than 80 trees on the island, and after clearing them, you’ll end up with about 12 stacks of planks and 12 stacks of palm leaves.

9. Seaweed

Seawed found in the coral reefs.

Seaweed stats:

• Value: 10
• Qty. to fill the recycler: 60
• Qty. to make 1 trash cube: 15

What’s nice about seaweed is how easy it is to collect. It is not necessary to use a scrap hook; simply pick them up as you would other items. At the beginning of the game, you might not want to use your seaweed for the recycler as you’ll need it for crafting, but once you’ve come far enough in the game, you’ll find that the seaweed will accumulate in your storage fairly quickly.

Why is it a great recycler item:

• It’s easy to collect.
• You won’t need too much of it for crafting once you’ve come far enough in the game.
• It only takes 15 pieces to make a trash cube.

How to get seaweed:

You can find seaweed in all of the coral reefs. The amount of seaweed per island can range from only 3 pieces to 10 pieces. It depends on how big the reef is.

8. Clay

Player mining clay.

Clay stats:

• Value: 15
• Qty. to fill the recycler: 40
• Qty. to make 1 trash cube: 10

Personally, I would save my clay for clay bowls and decoration recipes that require clay. However, if you are the type to clear a whole island before moving on or if you always collect clay at every island you visit, then you will definitely have enough to spare for recycling.

Why is it a great recycler item:

• Clay can be found on every island, big or small.
• Clay is used for very few things, so you’ll have an abundance of it eventually.

How to get clay:

Clay is found on the floor of coral reefs, and you can collect it with a hook. Clay and sand look similar, but clay is slightly darker.

7. Sand

Player mining sand.

Sand stats:

• Value: 15
• Qty. to fill the recycler: 40
• Qty. to make 1 trash cube: 10

Sand and clay are the same in terms of value for the recycler, but I put sand over clay on this list because there are fewer uses for sand than for clay. I would save some sand for smelting glass, but the rest of it can go into the recycler.

Why is it a great recycler item:

• Sand is a very common resource.
• There are a few things that sand can be useful for.

How to get sand:

Just like clay, sand is found on the floor of coral reefs, and you can collect it with a hook. You will often find sand and clay next to each other; sand is lighter in color.

6. Giant Clam

Giant clam in the coral reefs.

Giant clam stats:

• Value: 30
• Qty. to fill the recycler: 20
• Qty. to make 1 trash cube: 5

It’s so strange that clams are not used for food in this game. The only crafting recipe it’s used for is the bird nest, of which you only need a couple (if you’re planning on farming drumsticks and feathers). I didn't realise it could be recycled until recently, but once I did, I recycled everything.

Why is it a great recycler item:

• The giant clam only has one crafting use.
• It only takes five clams to make one trash cube.

How to get giant clams:

Clams are only found on the seabed. It can be picked without using any tools.

5. Stone

Stone found on the seabed.

Stone stats:

• Value: 3
• Qty. to fill the recycler: 200
• Qty. to make 1 trash cube: 50

Stone is one of those resources that has very little use, yet there is an abundance of it on the seafloor. It's not even worth collecting at first because it takes up so much space in your small storage and depletes the durability of your hook.The only reason I put it so low on the list is because you need 200 pieces to fill up your recycler. Unless you’re a completionist who clears the whole seabed no matter how useless the resource, you won’t have enough stone to fill the recycler sustainably.

Why is it a great recycler item:

• Putting it in the recycler is the perfect way to get rid of stone.
• There is no use for them other than stone tools and net canisters.

How to get stone:

Stone can be found on the seabed and also in loot boxes and barrels.

4.  Plastic

Plastic jug floating on the water.

Plastic stats:

• Value: 5
• Qty. to fill the recycler: 120
• Qty. to make 1 trash cube: 30

Plastic is such a useful resource. It can be used for various useful crafting recipes, but it’s very easy to hoard. If you have an overflow of plastic, then it’s definitely worth recycling. You’ll continuously gather plastic as you drift anyway.

Why is it a great recycler item:

• extremely simple to obtain.
• can be passively farmed with nets.

How to get plastic:

Plastic is floating all over the ocean. It's extremely simple to obtain if you have a large number of nets to collect them for you. Plastic can also be found in barrels, loot boxes, and vacated rafts.

3. Feather

Seagul attack a scarecrow.

Feather stats:

• Value: 5
• Qty. to fill the recycler: 120
• Qty. to make 1 trash cube: 30

Feathers are arguably the most annoying resource for me. Not only are there not many things you can use feathers for, but they just fill up the small storage so quickly that I’m always reluctant to dedicate a whole chest to feathers. When I found out that feathers can be recycled, I was so glad I could stop littering the ocean with them.

Why is it a great recycler item:

• It’s easy to collect feathers passively if you have bird nests set up on your raft.
• Anytime you kill a seagull, they will drop a couple of feathers.
• It’s way better to recycle them rather than throw them into the ocean.

How to get feathers:

You can get feathers by killing seagulls and screechers. If you have plants or bird nests on your raft, seagulls will flock to them. You can keep a few bird nests around your raft, and over time, you’ll notice they'll collect bird feathers from when seagulls landed there for a moment. If you have plants that seagulls can easily access, I recommend getting a scarecrow or two so the seagulls will attack it instead of your plants.

2. Palm Leaf

An island with a lot of palm trees.

Palm leaf stats:

• Value: 5
• Qty. to fill the recycler: 120
• Qty. to make 1 trash cube: 30

Palm leaves are such an abundant resource. When drifting for long periods of time, I find that my nets fill up with resources and my palm leaves fill up so quickly that I have to turn them into rope. It’s also always the first resource that I need to make a second chest for, just because it collects so easily.

Why is it a great recycler item:

• Palm leaves are found everywhere while drifting.
• While drifting, you can even find them in bundles of 3.
• They can be easily farmed with a palm tree farm.

How to get palm leaves:

You can get palm trees by chopping down palm trees or drifting into streams of debris. If you have nets on your raft, you’ll find that you’ll have too many palm leaves in no time.

1. Wool

A striped llama.

Wool stats:

• Value: 75
• Qty. to fill the recycler: 8
• Qty. to make 1 trash cube: 2

Once you’ve made a backpack and armor, there’s no other use for wool, so all the wool you collect from then on can be used for recycling material. I think it’s an amazing resource for the recycler because you can literally have a bunch of llamas living on your raft for the sake of wool farming.

Why is it a great recycler item:

• The only uses for wool are backpacks and armor.
• It only takes eight pieces to fill up a recycler.
• It's a great resource to use for the recycler instead of other materials that you might need for crafting.

How to get wool:

To begin, create some grass plots and a fence around them. Then you’ll need to make a net launcher and net canister to catch your llamas. Net canisters can only be used once, so keep a few on hand just in case. Once you’ve captured your llama and brought it back to your raft, you place it in your grass plot and water the grass. Make some shears to collect the wool. You will get one piece of wool per shear, and your llama’s wool will grow back five minutes after it eats some fully grown grass.

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