Rust recycler calculator
Add what is in your inventory and pick where you are recycling it. You get the scrap and resources you can expect back, so you know whether the trip is worth the risk before you make it.
How recycling pays out
A recycler returns a share of each item's value, and since the Power Trip update in August 2026 that share depends on where the recycler stands. The safe zone recyclers at Outpost and Bandit Camp give 40%, ordinary monument recyclers give 50%, monuments give 60% while the Power Plant is powering them and the red recycler inside the Power Plant itself gives 75%. Pick the matching option at the top and the calculator applies the right rate to everything in the list.
Scrap is a fixed value per item, not a refund of what the item cost to craft. Gears cost 100 scrap to make but recycle for 20 at 100%, which at a safe zone is 8 scrap back. The same is true in the other direction: a rifle body recycles for 50 scrap at 100%, which is why people grab them from crates even when they have no rifle to craft.
About the fractions
Yields are averages. When a component's base value times the rate is not a whole number, the game rolls for the extra item: 0.5 means a coin flip for one more. Over a full inventory the fractions even out, so the calculator shows the expected figure with one decimal rather than rounding it away.
What to recycle and what to keep
Sheet metal, road signs, propane tanks and cans are easy choices: recycle them. Tech trash and electric fuses are high scrap but also useful for crafting, so check what you need first. Gears, springs and pipes are worth far more as components than as scrap, since every gun, trap and many base items need them. Rifle and SMG bodies are a judgement call: good scrap, but also the thing you cannot buy at Outpost.
For where the recyclers are and which monuments are safe to use early in the wipe, read the recycler locations guide. If the scrap is going towards explosives, the crafting calculator turns it into a shopping list.
Yields at 100%
| Items | Scrap | Metal Fragments | High Quality Metal | You get back |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gears | 20 | 25 | – | – |
| Metal Pipe | 10 | – | 2 | – |
| Metal Spring | 20 | – | 2 | – |
| Rifle Body | 50 | – | 3 | – |
| SMG Body | 30 | – | 3 | – |
| Semi Automatic Body | 30 | 150 | 3 | – |
| Sheet Metal | 16 | 200 | 2 | – |
| Road Signs | 10 | – | 2 | – |
| Tech Trash | 40 | – | 2 | – |
| Electric Fuse | 40 | – | – | – |
| CCTV Camera | – | – | 3 | 3 Tech Trash |
| Targeting Computer | – | 100 | 2 | 5 Tech Trash |
| Empty Propane Tank | 2 | 100 | – | – |
| Metal Blade | 4 | 30 | – | – |
| Rope | – | – | – | 30 Cloth |
| Tarp | – | – | – | 100 Cloth |
| Sewing Kit | – | – | – | 20 Cloth, 3 Rope |
| Empty Can of Beans | – | 20 | – | – |
| Empty Tuna Can | – | 16 | – | – |
Numbers checked against Rust Labs on , current for the Livestock update.
Frequently asked questions
Which recycler gives the most scrap?
The red recycler in the Power Plant, at 75%. Monument recyclers give 50%, or 60% while the Power Plant is powering them, and the safe zone recyclers at Outpost and Bandit Camp give 40%.
How much scrap does a rifle body give?
50 scrap at 100%, so 25 at a normal monument, 30 at a powered one, 37.5 at the red recycler and 20 at a safe zone, plus a few HQM each time.
Should I recycle gears and springs?
Only if you have nothing to use them on. Gears and springs go into most guns and many base items, and they cost far more scrap to craft or buy than they ever return.
Why do I sometimes get one more item than the calculator says?
Because fractional yields are rolled. A 0.5 result is a 50% chance of one extra item, so single runs vary and the calculator shows the average.
Is Outpost recycling worth the lower rate?
Early in the wipe, usually yes. You cannot be killed there, which matters more than the 10 percentage points you lose to a monument recycler. Once you have a gun and a base nearby, the monument rate wins.
Related guides
- Gameplay Rust Recycler Locations by Monument and What to Recycle Where every recycler stands in Rust after the Power Trip update, which monuments are safe zones, the four rates and which components give the most scrap.
- Gameplay How to Farm Sulfur in Rust: Nodes, Quarry and Excavator How to farm sulfur in Rust for a weekend raid: what a node pays, which tool to bring, Sulfur Quarry and Excavator diesel math, and when to smelt.