Hussar
Legend
I believe you are mistaken. How would you be "recycling" when creating self-replicating mines, such as they did in DS9 to stop the Dominion from flooding through the wormhole? Or, what would Voyager be recycling to create new shuttles?Nope - replicators break down matter to the atomic level and reassemble it into new forms. If they could convert matter to energy, starships wouldn't need antimatter.
Technically, transporters don't convert matter to energy either - they turn it into a "matter stream" which can be transmitted like energy, but throughout the process the composition of that matter is maintained, to the extent that creatures remain conscious and aware throughout the process.
A more thorough explanation is found here: Replicator