Factorio Forums

I have an idea for recycling machines. These take Logistics, Production and Intermediate Products as ingredients, and turn them back into the ingredients that were used to make them in the first place.

For example inputting electronic circuits as ingredients a recycling machine produces some copper cable and iron-plate results.

There isn't a 100% recycling 'yield'. At the moment I'm using a 1:5 ratio. So where 1 electronic circuit recipe is made from 3 copper cable and 1 iron plate ingredients, the recycling machine needs 5 electronic circuits to produce arecycled 3 cable and 1 plate. This recycle yield would improve by using productivity modules.

I'm doing this as an experiment to learn about modding. I got the idea after accidentally producing many more blue science packs than I needed, and wishing that I could have the raw ingredients back.

Is this worth publishing as a mod for other people to use?

viewtopic.php?f=93&t=14067&hilit=recycling
and also outdated, but can maybe help
viewtopic.php?f=87&t=10247&hilit=recycling
viewtopic.php?f=87&t=3612&hilit=recycling
viewtopic.php?f=32&t=1072&hilit=recycling

Thank you for the feedback. Interesting links, some things I hadn't considered there, like automatic recipe generation so that any mods are also considered. I was working on a manual, vanilla-based recipe.

My ideas include:

• 3 levels of recycling machine, equivalent to the same level of assembling machine. So anything that could be assembled in a level 1 machine, could be recycled in a level 1 recycling machine.
• Fluids could be produced by recycling products that included them in their recipe (Engines, batteries, ???). The only fluids that could be produced from recycling would be sulfuric acid and lubricant.
• Each level of recycling machine would require research and would only be possible after the equivalent assembling machine was researched. Research cost would be the same as the assembling machine equivalent.
• Anything produced in a furnace could not be recycled back down to its ore + fuel.
• Most weapons could be recycled, but not ammunition. Too dangerous.
• Other ingredients that could not be recycled would include rocket fuel and concrete.
• Generally where products have been formed by smelting or produced in chemical plants, they can't be broken back down to their raw state.
• An exception to that is batteries, but I've never understood why they should be produced in chemical plants, they should be assembled. Batteries will be recyclable in an recycling machine.
• There would be a recycle ratio, that users could edit in data.lua. Default is 5 to 1.
• Modules would work in the recycling machines.

Making some progress...
Only 1 recycling recipe so far