Recycling benefits the natural world by reducing the waste stream and by recovering materials that can be put to use to make new products, lessening the need to extract raw materials from the environment. WPI is a leader in research and development on the recovery, recycling, and reuse of materials throughout the manufacturing process. WPI experts on recycling can address recycling metals (including the reuse of metals on the battlefield), recycling lithium-ion batteries, and the use of robotics in recycling, among other topics. Students at WPI work to develop robotic technology that can assist workers at recycling centers.