What to Recycle in Arc Raiders – Best Items & Materials Guide
What to Recycle in Arc Raiders
Recycling breaks loot down into core crafting materials instead of cashing it in for coin. For most junk items you’ll get more value recycling than selling, which makes it the backbone of a healthy crafting economy. Here’s what to recycle and what you’ll get for it.
How Recycling Works
You can break items down two ways, and the yield is very different:
- Recycle in Speranza (your base): full material yield. This is where you should do almost all of your recycling.
- Scrap topside (mid-raid): only half the materials. Useful to free bag space in an emergency, but you’re throwing away 50% of the value.
Rule of thumb: carry junk home and recycle it in Speranza for the full return.
Materials You Get From Recycling
Recycling feeds your crafting and upgrades with foundational materials, including:
- Metal Parts, Rubber Parts, Plastic Parts
- Fabric, Chemicals, Wires
- Canister, Battery, Electrical Components
- ARC Alloy (from broken ARC tech)
Best Common Items to Recycle
Low-rarity clutter you’ll find constantly is some of the most efficient material to break down. A few verified examples:
| Item | Recycles into |
|---|---|
| Candle Holder | 8 Metal Parts |
| Rusted Bolts | 8 Metal Parts |
| Tattered Clothes | 11 Fabric |
| Crumpled Plastic Bottle | 4 Plastic Parts |
Beyond these, prioritise broken electronics, power banks and damaged ARC components — they return Wires, Electrical Components and ARC Alloy that are far more useful than the few coins they’d sell for.
What NOT to Recycle
- Quest items — hold them until the quest is complete.
- Workshop / workbench upgrade materials — Motors, Cooling Coils, Industrial Batteries, Lab Reagents, Rusted Gears. These upgrade your stations; see what to keep.
- Trinkets — these are coin-only, so sell them rather than recycle.
Recycle or Sell?
When in doubt, recycle. Most household and tech junk returns crafting materials worth more than the vendor price, and you’ll always need a steady supply of base materials for crafting and station upgrades. Only sell when you specifically need quick coin or you’re overflowing on a common material. For the full hold-or-sell breakdown, see what to keep in Arc Raiders.