Waste recovery means any operation, the principal result of which is that the waste still serves a useful purpose and is not simply destroyed.
- Recycling is considered a form of recovery.
- Energy recovery is another important form of recovery. This involves, for example, the use of waste as fuel in industrial production processes, e.g. in cement works.
The incineration of packaging waste in household waste incinerators, which can ensure a certain degree of recovery of electricity or steam, can also be taken into account (as stipulated in European Directive 2004/12/EC).