huishou: 回收 - Recycle, Recall, Recover

• Keywords: huishou, 回收, recycle in Chinese, how to say recycle in Chinese, product recall, data recovery, Chinese for recycle bin, waste management in China, HSK 4 vocabulary
• Summary: Learn the versatile Chinese word 回收 (huíshōu), which means much more than just “recycle.” This page breaks down how 回收 (huíshōu) is used for everything from recycling bottles and product recalls by companies to recovering deleted computer files in the “Recycle Bin” (回收站). Understand its cultural significance in modern China's push for environmentalism and its practical use in daily conversation.

• Pinyin (with tone marks): huí shōu
• Part of Speech: Verb
• HSK Level: HSK 4
• Concise Definition: To collect something to be reused, reprocessed, or returned; to recycle, recall, or recover.
• In a Nutshell: 回收 (huíshōu) is the action of “taking something back” for a specific purpose. While its most common meaning is “to recycle” waste materials, it broadly covers any systematic process of retrieving items, from faulty products a company needs to recall, to lost data on a hard drive, to capital from an investment. It implies a formal or organized collection process.

• 回 (huí): To return, to go back. The character originally depicted a spiral or whirlpool, symbolizing the act of turning, circling, or returning to a starting point.
• 收 (shōu): To receive, to collect, to gather. This character combines components that suggest an action (攵, a hand with a tool) of gathering or taking control of something (⺙).
• Together, 回收 (huíshōu) literally means “to return-collect” or “to gather back.” This combination perfectly captures the idea of bringing materials or items back into a system for processing, whether it's a recycling plant, a company's warehouse, or a computer's memory.

In China, 回收 (huíshōu) is a concept deeply embedded in both the economy and daily life, though its manifestation differs from many Western countries. For decades, recycling wasn't primarily a top-down, government-led environmental initiative, but a grassroots, economic one. You would commonly see elderly “aunties” (阿姨, āyí) and “uncles” (叔叔, shūshu) collecting cardboard, plastic bottles, and scrap metal from neighborhoods to sell to local recycling depots. This informal economy is a visible and crucial part of the 回收 ecosystem. This contrasts with the often more formalized, municipally-run “blue bin” systems in North America or Europe, where recycling is seen more as a civic duty. However, in recent years, China has been undergoing a massive cultural shift. Major cities like Shanghai and Beijing have implemented strict mandatory trash sorting laws (垃圾分类, lājī fēnlèi), pushing the concept of 回收 into the formal, government-regulated sphere. This reflects a growing national consciousness around environmental protection (环保, huánbǎo), moving the value of 回收 from a purely economic incentive to a shared social responsibility.

回收 (huíshōu) is a highly practical and common word used across various modern contexts.

• Environmental Recycling: This is the most common usage. It refers to recycling household and industrial waste.
  • e.g., 回收垃圾 (huíshōu lājī) - to recycle trash
  • e.g., 回收旧电池 (huíshōu jiù diànchí) - to recycle old batteries
• Technology & Data: In the digital world, 回收 means to recover or retrieve.
  • The “Recycle Bin” on a Windows computer is called 回收站 (huíshōu zhàn).
  • It can also refer to data recovery: 回收已删除的文件 (huíshōu yǐ shānchú de wénjiàn) - to recover deleted files.
• Business & Commerce: Companies use 回收 when they need to recall a product or recover funds.
  • e.g., 公司决定回收所有有问题的产品。(Gōngsī juédìng huíshōu suǒyǒu yǒu wèntí de chǎnpǐn.) - The company decided to recall all problematic products.
  • e.g., 回收投资 (huíshōu tóuzī) - to recoup an investment.

The connotation is generally neutral and technical. It describes a process rather than expressing a strong emotion. It's used in both formal announcements and everyday conversation.

• Example 1:
  • 请把这些塑料瓶回收一下。
  • Pinyin: Qǐng bǎ zhèxiē sùliào píng huíshōu yīxià.
  • English: Please recycle these plastic bottles.
  • Analysis: A common, everyday request. The structure “把 + Object + Verb” is used to show disposal or handling of the object.
• Example 2:
  • 我不小心把文件删了，幸好还在回收站里。
  • Pinyin: Wǒ bù xiǎoxīn bǎ wénjiàn shān le, xìnghǎo hái zài huíshōu zhàn lǐ.
  • English: I accidentally deleted the file, but luckily it's still in the Recycle Bin.
  • Analysis: This shows the technological use of the term. 回收站 (huíshōu zhàn) is the standard name for the Recycle Bin on computers in China.
• Example 3:
  • 这家汽车公司正在回收十万辆有安全隐患的汽车。
  • Pinyin: Zhè jiā qìchē gōngsī zhèngzài huíshōu shí wàn liàng yǒu ānquán yǐnhuàn de qìchē.
  • English: This car company is recalling 100,000 vehicles with a safety hazard.
  • Analysis: This demonstrates the “product recall” meaning, often seen in news or official announcements.
• Example 4:
  • 我们小区的门口有一个旧衣服回收箱。
  • Pinyin: Wǒmen xiǎoqū de ménkǒu yǒu yī ge jiù yīfu huíshōu xiāng.
  • English: There is an old clothes recycling bin at the entrance of our residential community.
  • Analysis: Shows how 回收 is used as an adjective to describe an object's purpose (a “recycling” bin).
• Example 5:
  • 很多老人靠回收废品来赚钱。
  • Pinyin: Hěn duō lǎorén kào huíshōu fèipǐn lái zhuànqián.
  • English: Many elderly people make money by collecting and recycling scrap materials.
  • Analysis: This sentence reflects the cultural context of the informal recycling economy in China.
• Example 6:
  • 这个项目很难在短期内回收成本。
  • Pinyin: Zhè ge xiàngmù hěn nán zài duǎnqī nèi huíshōu chéngběn.
  • English: It's difficult for this project to recover its costs in the short term.
  • Analysis: An example of the financial meaning of 回收, “to recoup” or “recover” funds.
• Example 7:
  • 这种材料是百分之百可回收的。
  • Pinyin: Zhè zhǒng cáiliào shì bǎifēnzhībǎi kě huíshōu de.
  • English: This material is 100% recyclable.
  • Analysis: Here, 可回收 (kě huíshōu) means “recyclable,” a very common construction using “可 (kě)” to mean “-able”.
• Example 8:
  • 政府计划回收这片土地用于建设公园。
  • Pinyin: Zhèngfǔ jìhuà huíshōu zhè piàn tǔdì yòngyú jiànshè gōngyuán.
  • English: The government plans to reclaim this piece of land to build a park.
  • Analysis: This illustrates a more formal, large-scale meaning: to reclaim or take back possession of something, like land.
• Example 9:
  • 废旧电池应该被单独回收，不能和普通垃圾扔在一起。
  • Pinyin: Fèijiù diànchí yīnggāi bèi dāndú huíshōu, bù néng hé pǔtōng lājī rēng zài yīqǐ.
  • English: Used batteries should be recycled separately and not thrown away with regular trash.
  • Analysis: This sentence uses the passive voice with 被 (bèi) and highlights the practical rules of modern recycling initiatives.
• Example 10:
  • 我们的目标是提高资源的回收利用率。
  • Pinyin: Wǒmen de mùbiāo shì tígāo zīyuán de huíshōu lìyòng lǜ.
  • English: Our goal is to increase the utilization rate of recycled resources.
  • Analysis: In this sentence, 回收 acts as a noun within the phrase 回收利用率 (huíshōu lìyòng lǜ), meaning “recycling and utilization rate,” a common term in environmental policy.

• 回收 (huíshōu) vs. 收回 (shōuhuí): This is a common point of confusion.
  • 回收 (huíshōu) implies a systematic process of collecting things from various sources to be processed, reused, or restored. Think of recycling campaigns, product recalls, or data recovery software. It's often large-scale and impersonal.
  • 收回 (shōuhuí) means “to take back” something more directly and personally. It's often used for revoking a statement, taking back a promise, or retracting an item you lent someone.
  • Correct: 公司回收了有问题的产品。(The company recalled the faulty products.)
  • Correct: 我要收回我刚才说的话。(I want to take back what I just said.)
  • Incorrect: 我要回收我刚才说的话。 (This sounds like you are systematically collecting your spoken words for reprocessing, which is nonsensical.)
• Not just for “Recycling”: The biggest mistake English speakers make is limiting 回收 to only mean recycling trash. Remember its broader applications in business (recalls, investment recovery) and technology (data recovery, Recycle Bin). The core concept is “systematic retrieval,” not just “making old things new.”

• 垃圾分类 (lājī fēnlèi) - Trash sorting. A key government policy in modern China directly related to 回收.
• 环保 (huánbǎo) - Environmental protection. This is the broader social and political context in which 回收 has become increasingly important.
• 废物利用 (fèiwù lìyòng) - Waste utilization. A concept closely related to 回收, focusing on making use of scrap or waste materials.
• 收回 (shōuhuí) - To take back, withdraw, revoke. A more direct and personal action compared to the systematic process of 回收.
• 回收站 (huíshōu zhàn) - Literally “recycling station,” but most famously known as the “Recycle Bin” on a computer.
• 可回收物 (kě huíshōu wù) - Recyclables; recyclable materials. The category of items that can be collected for 回收.
• 再生 (zàishēng) - To regenerate, to be reborn. Often used in technical terms like 再生资源 (zàishēng zīyuán), meaning “renewable/recyclable resources.”
• 废品 (fèipǐn) - Waste products, scrap. The raw materials that are often collected for 回收.