المتطوع يعيد تدوير النفايات الورقية.

A simple learner-friendly breakdown is:

• المتطوع = the volunteer
• يعيد تدوير = recycles
• النفايات الورقية = paper waste or paper trash

So the sentence structure is basically subject + verb phrase + object phrase.

الـ is the Arabic definite article, like the in English.

So:

• متطوع = a volunteer / volunteer
• المتطوع = the volunteer

The same idea appears in النفايات and الورقية. In Arabic, adjectives usually match the noun in definiteness, so if the noun has الـ, the adjective normally has it too.

المتطوع means the volunteer.

It comes from the verb تطوّع meaning to volunteer.
So متطوع is the active-participle form, meaning someone who volunteers.

This pattern is very common in Arabic:

• متعلم = learner
• متطوع = volunteer
• متحدث = speaker

By itself, يعيد comes from أعاد / يعيد, which means to repeat, to do again, or to restore/return depending on context.

But in this sentence, it is part of the expression يعيد تدوير, which means recycles.

So يعيد alone does not mean recycles.
It gets that meaning when combined with تدوير.

Because Arabic often expresses to recycle with the phrase أعاد تدوير or يعيد تدوير.

Literally, it is something like to do the processing/cycling again.
The noun تدوير is a verbal noun meaning something like turning, circulating, or processing into a cycle.

So:

• إعادة التدوير = recycling
• يعيد تدوير = he recycles / is recycling

This is a very standard and natural way to say recycle in Modern Standard Arabic.

Because Arabic adjectives normally come after the noun they describe.

So:

• النفايات الورقية = literally the waste paper-related
• natural English = paper waste

This is the normal Arabic order:

• كتاب جديد = a new book
• السيارة الكبيرة = the big car
• النفايات الورقية = paper waste

This is a very important rule in MSA:

Non-human plural nouns usually take feminine singular adjectives.

So even though النفايات is plural, the adjective is الورقية and not a plural adjective.

That is why Arabic says:

• النفايات الورقية
• not النفايات الورقيات

The same pattern happens a lot:

• الكتب الجديدة = the new books
• البيوت الكبيرة = the big houses

Even though books and houses are plural, the adjective is often feminine singular in MSA because they are non-human plurals.

ورقي is an adjective derived from ورق, meaning paper.

So:

• ورق = paper
• ورقي = paper / paper-related
• ورقية = feminine singular form of that adjective

Since الورقية is describing النفايات, it means paper in the sense of made of paper or paper-related.

So النفايات الورقية means paper waste, not just the noun paper by itself.

It can mean either one, depending on context.

The Arabic imperfect tense often covers both:

• simple present: recycles
• present continuous: is recycling

So this sentence could mean:

• The volunteer recycles paper waste
• The volunteer is recycling paper waste

If there is no extra context, English textbooks often translate it with the simple present: recycles.

Yes, absolutely.

Both are correct:

• المتطوع يعيد تدوير النفايات الورقية
• يعيد المتطوع تدوير النفايات الورقية

The difference is mainly one of style or emphasis.

• Starting with المتطوع puts more focus on the volunteer
• Starting with يعيد is a more verb-first structure, which is also very common in Arabic

So both are natural, and learners should get used to seeing both patterns.

This is a slightly more advanced point.

In يعيد تدوير النفايات, the word تدوير is a verbal noun.
So the structure is literally closer to he repeats the recycling of the waste.

That means:

• يعيد = the finite verb
• تدوير = the thing being done again
• النفايات = linked to تدوير, like recycling of the waste

So with full case endings, this part is:

• تدويرَ النفاياتِ

For a beginner, though, it is perfectly fine to understand the whole chunk يعيد تدوير as one unit meaning recycles.

A fully vowelled version is:

المُتَطَوِّعُ يُعيدُ تَدويرَ النِّفاياتِ الوَرَقِيَّةِ

This shows several useful things:

• المتطوعُ is nominative
• يعيدُ is the present-tense verb
• تدويرَ is in the accusative
• النفاياتِ is genitive after تدوير
• الورقيةِ matches النفايات in definiteness, gender pattern, and case

In normal pausal reading, many final short vowels are not pronounced clearly, but the fully vowelled version is useful for understanding the grammar.

This is because of the sun letter / moon letter rule.

The word النفايات starts with ن, and ن is a sun letter.
So the ل of الـ is not pronounced separately; it assimilates:

• النفايات is pronounced an-nifāyāt

But الورقية starts with و, and و is a moon letter.
So the ل is pronounced normally:

• الورقية is pronounced al-waraqiyya

The same thing happens in المتطوع: م is a moon letter, so you pronounce the l in al-.