The recycler will help you get rid of all the junk, clogging up your chests and trunks. Place an unnecessary item in the slot to get useful resources or even rare details if you are lucky. Even generators and rusty engines can be recycled, but in this case it will not be possible to cancel the process and take back the generator or engine.
Pay attention to some changes in the crafting recipes, some of them require unique materials that can be obtained only with the help of this workbench.