Energy is not recycled. It is used to keep living things alive as it passes from one living thing to the next through the ecosystem, but as it does, it is continually degraded to heat and cannot be reused. Matter, often in the form of nutrients, is recycled and reused over and over in ecosystems. All of the energy that enters an ecosystem flows through the living organisms and is used by them, and much of this energy is released in the form of heat. The chemicals that are used as nutrients in an ecosystem are cycled through and are re-used. The energy that flows through the ecosystem cannot be recycled. As the energy moves through an ecosystem, it is transformed at each trophic level and it is ultimately transformed into heat energy, which cannot be directly utilized by the living organisms as they cannot convert heat to other forms of energy. This ensures that there is no real long-term drain on the Earth's nutrients, despite millions of years of plant and animal activity. Nutrient recycling is the way in which elements are continuously being broken down and/or exchanged for reuse between the living and non-living components of an ecosystem. About 90% of energy in a trophic is used at that trophic level. Therefore, only about 10% as much energy is available to organisms at each successive trophic level. Therefore, energy is not recycled in ecosystems.he nutrients are recycled back to the soil by the action of decomposers. These organisms decompose dead remains of animals as well as plants and breakdown them into different molecules. These molecules are returned back to the soil and are again used for the growth of new organisms. Energy, unlike matter, is a force that cannot be physically held on to or weighed. Because energy transfers always involve heat loss as energy travels from one form to another, it is impossible for that energy to be locked into physical materials that always recycle in the same way that carbon does. The energy changes its form and flows into the following species or organic nutrient cycle. Thus, the energy is passed on to the next in an ecosystem, like entering an ecosystem as sunlight and leaves in the form of heat. Since the energy is not recycled, it is referred to as energy flow.