Bottom post of the previous page:
Just make the materials obtainable from all items the same as what it takes to build with a max efficiency auto/protolathe. (if the recycler is maxed, if not then wastage)The you can look at lower tier lathes as inefficiency, or wastage. Like how Eve handles manufacturing.
Basically, A dildo cannon might have a base material requirement of 100 metal.
The level of manipulator in the lathe would add a multiplier to the mat requirements (t4 would be 1, t3 might be 1.1, etc etc), to give you something like what we got now in term of the cost of making shit, and upgrades.
(ie: base mat cost X multiplier = required minerals)
Then with the recycler, the manipulator in that would have a multiplier for getting minerals back, with t4 again being 1, but with the lower tiers being lower (0.9 etc etc).
(base mat cost X multiplier = recycled minerals)
This would mean if you have maxed proto/autolathes AND recycler, you'd get 100% return on materials, while anything less would result in lost materials either in manufacturing or recycling.