So I'll try to organize this the best I can so it's understandable...
I know there is a mod already called "Scrap mod" which like recycles the base ingredients to some degree when you destroy and item. The recycle part of my idea is like that, but a bit more complex.
So here it is:
- Factories, and maybe labs and refineries/chemical plants would produce two by-products that are "left over" after each time it makes something. So the theory behind it is that like things in real life, not every bit of resources going into the factory etc... would be used. There would be some left over (scraps), and (trash).
- Both these would need to be collected with an inserter onto belts or robots or whatever, just like normal items can be. If they aren't collected, the factory would stop working, or maybe just get less efficient.
- There are two ways this could go. Either the "scraps" and "trash" are combined as 1 item when it leaves the factory, and then needs to be separated out in another building down the line, or they just come out in 2 parts separately.
- But either way, the "scraps" would go to a recycling building, and could be turned back into a small amount of the base resource(s) used in the factory that created that "scrap".
- And the "trash" would go to a landfill or dump area, because well it's trash. The landfill would need to be expanded as more things of trash went into it (just like in real life), and also like in real life, it would create pollution. Obviously the bigger it got, the more pollution it would create.
- And say after like 100 or 200 in-game days of being created, parts of the landfill would start to disappear (like how they eventually build stuff on top of landfills in RL), and you could then build in that area again.
So yeah that's the basics of the idea. No idea if it can even be done, or if it would be interesting or not, but it would definitely add another dynamic and challenge to the game.
