Tin cans recycled by European, for example (8)
I believe the answer is:
instance
'example' is the definition.
(I know that example can be written as instance)
'tin cans recycled by european' is the wordplay.
'recycled' indicates an anagram.
'by' says to put letters next to each other.
'european' becomes 'e' (abbreviation e.g. EU).
'tin'+'cans'='tincans'
'tincans' is an anagram of 'instanc'.
'instanc'+'e'='INSTANCE'
'for' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for instance that I've seen before include "'Example, illustration (8)'" , "Cite as an example" , "A case or example of something" , "Example or single occurrence of something" , "Case or example from ancients" .)