scavenge

verb

• 1search for and collect (anything usable) from discarded waste:people sell junk scavenged from the garbage the city dump where the squatters scavenge to survive
• (of an animal) search for (carrion) as food: the feral cat preferred to scavenge carrion from the forest floor [no object]:bears and wolves scavenged for carcasses
• search for discarded items or food in (a place):the mink is still commonly seen scavenging the beaches of California

• 2remove (combustion products) from an internal-combustion engine cylinder on the return stroke of the piston: solid lead deposits of combustion would be scavenged from the engine

• 3 Chemistry combine with and remove (molecules, radicals, etc.) from a particular medium: chlorine molecules can scavenge ozone at a very fast rate