Recycling is the act of processing used or abandoned entities to extract useful materials. It can currently be performed on Space Stations, Ships, Droids, Vehicles, Facilities and Cities. Entities can be recycled in any condition, including wrecks.
The following conditions must be satisfied in order to be able to recycle:
- The recycling entity must have recycling abilities (check relevant rules page);
- The pilot of the recycling entity must be a member of a mining faction;
- The recycled entity is managed by the mining faction or must be a wreck;
- The recycled entity must be unprotected, unless the entity is a HQ.
EVS Construction Droids recycle at a constant set rate. A GRZ-6B Wrecker will recycle at a rate 40% faster than an EVS. A Recycling Space Station or Recycling Plant will recycle entities at a rate 60% faster than an EVS. The length of time it takes to recycle an entity is calculated using the following equation:
Facilities & Stations: Time = ((Entity Material Requirement * 20) * Modifier) * 0.40
Ships: Time = ((Entity Material Requirement * 20) * Modifier) * 0.60
Vehicles: Time = (Entity Material Requirement * 20) * Modifier
(see Recycling#Modifier).
The recycling cost is equal to 50% of the construction cost. The cost of recycling is deducted from the credits of the owner of the wrecker. For cities, the recycling cost is equal to 10% of the city creation cost.
Having a lower recycling skill means you will recycle entities slower, and you will not gain as many materials as a seasoned recycler with a higher skill level.
There are two separate equations used to calculate the amount of materials returned based on whether the entity is or is not a wreck. The materials returned are owned by the owner of the wrecker.
Materials Returned = Materials Required * (Modifier / 100)
(see Recycling#Modifier).
A modifier is used to calculate both the time and the return from recycling.
Non-Wrecked Entities:
Return Modifier = 50 + Repair Skill
Time Modifier = 50 - Repair Skill
Wrecked Entities:
Return Modifier = 20 + Repair Skill
Time Modifier = 20 - Repair Skill
Raw Materials from the recycling is stored in the recycling entity. Any excess materials that can not fit into the recycling entity are lost. Materials returned are prioritized based on rarity.
As the GRZ-6B Wrecker is smaller than the EVS Construction Droid, it can fit only a small amount of materials inside, resulting in the remaining materials being lost.
Therefore, the player must decide between speed and return when recycling large numbers of facilities.
When recycling stations and ships from a GRZ-6B Wrecker or EVS Construction Droid, materials recycled from a station are placed into storage containers that are created when the entity is completely recycled.
The following cargo containers can be spawned from recycling:
| Image | Ship |
|---|---|
|
Class-A Cargo Container |
The pilot of the entity doing the recycling receives a flat rate of XP for each recycling operation based on the entity type.
A Wreck is any entity that has a hull value of 0. When an entity becomes a wreck all its stats are set to zero as its deemed unfixable (this also means it can not move by itself). Aborting recycling also converts the entity into a wreck.
Moving wrecks is simple: they can easily be docked and undocked like any other ship or vehicle. For those that don't have a hangar or docking bay, then a tractor beam and sufficient capacity is enough to dock a wreck inside your transport ship.
Stations and Facilities with recycling capabilities can queue multiple entities or wrecks to recycle. They will recycle one at a time and continue to the next until the queue is exhausted or a problem occurs (such as running out of credits). There are no limitations on the size of the entity different stations or facilities can recycle.
If an entity or wreck is queued for recycling, it cannot be partied, moved or recycled by another party.
Mobile recyclers like ships or vehicles cannot queue recycling jobs.
Recycling operations can be aborted at any time. At the time of abortion, a random amount of damage will be applied to the entity being recycled - unless it is an item - and the credits that were paid when recycling was started will be refunded. If recycling is restarted on that damaged entity, the cost and ETA to completion will be what the default cost and recycling time is for that entity time. Time that was spent on recycling it before the abortion will be lost. Aborting recycling makes an entity become a wreck regardless of stats.
When recycling a wreck, converting an entity into a wreck, or cutting a wreck into smaller pieces, the ship or vehicle performing the action cannot move. However, the pilot is free to leave the recycling ship or vehicle.
