Spoilage

Spoilage is a degraded item type that many items produced on Planet discovery Gleba will transform into after a limited freshness duration. The transformation into Spoilage occurs automatically over time and can happen anywhere the item exists: while in machines, on transport belts, in chests, or even while being held by an inserter. Item Quality increases the freshness duration and thus delays the conversion of an item into Spoilage.

The production and recycling systems on Gleba interact with Spoilage. The primary recipe for producing Nutrients is implemented as a process that generates Spoilage as part of its resource flow. Using a recycler to process Nutrients therefore yields Spoilage. Because the forward Nutrients recipe has a spoilage-to-nutrient ratio of 10:1, the recycler’s reverse conversion produces 2.5 units of Spoilage for every Nutrient recycled.

Alternative or ancillary production chains on Gleba include biological processes labeled as Iron bacteria and Copper bacteria in some recipes. These processes appear as alternative recipe entries in multiple language sources and are associated with nutrient and waste flows that connect to Spoilage production or transformation. Exact implementation details, such as required buildings or technologies for those specific bacterial recipes, are defined by the game’s recipe tables and may vary by version.

• Spoilage accumulates naturally from time-based decay of items; improving Item Quality extends item freshness.
• Spoilage is created directly by recycling Nutrients due to the stoichiometry of the involved recipes; expect 2.5 Spoilage per Nutrient when using the recycler on Nutrients.
• Spoilage can appear anywhere an item can be found: in assemblers, furnaces, belts, chests, and held by inserters.
• Alternative recipe lines referencing Iron bacteria and Copper bacteria are part of the broader production/recycling network that produces or uses Spoilage; consult the current in-game recipe list for exact machine and technology requirements.