This study was conducted to determine how the concept of recycling was perceived by third and fourth grade students of elementary school. The sample of the research consisted of 122 students from 3 rd and 4 th grades. Phenomenographic approach was used in the study. The data of the study were collected by interviews and a semi-structured protocol. Interviews were conducted with 10 randomly selected students from the fourth grade. In the interviews, five questions about the concept of recycling were asked. The data of the study were collected with the fact that the 122 students were asked to complete the sentence as “In my opinion, recycling is ......” Content analysis was used in the analysis of interviews. The answers of the students to the interview questions were evaluated and different themes for each question were determined. And coding was done on the determined themes. Phenomenographic approach was used in the analysis of the question sentence. During the analyses, categories were created taking into consideration of the expressions of the students about the given concept. The expressions among these categories were reorganized and their frequency was calculated. In the study, it was determined that the recycling perceptions of the students were categorized under seven categories. These are “Recyclable products", "Protection of the environment ", "Re-use", "Places where recyclable products are collected", "Reducing environmental pollution”, “Its contribution to the economy" and "Its effect on the future". It was also determined in the study that the students often used recyclable products to describe the term recycle and all the students participating in the interviews recognized the recycling sign. As a result of the study, it can be recommended that subjects about recycling should be included more in different courses in primary schools.