According to Directive 2008/98/EC on waste, recovery is defined as:
Operation whose main result is that the waste serves a useful purpose by replacing other materials that would otherwise have been used to fulfil a particular function.
Preparation of the waste to fulfil a particular function, either in the facility or in the economy at large.
Recycling involves a process aimed at converting waste into new products or raw materials for further use. The difference is therefore very subtle, the former being considered as the preparation of the waste and the latter as the direct re-use of the waste as a new product or raw material.
In practice, all waste that supermarkets do not recover would go to landfill