If you don't use a credit card, you must apply to cancel it, or you will incur an annual fee. Even if you don't open a card, you will incur an annual fee in the next year. (The annual fee for the first year is free)
There is no need to recycle cancelled credit cards. You can contact the customer service of the credit card center to explain that you need to cancel the card. The other party will prompt the cancelled credit card to cut off the magnetic stripe of the credit card to prevent future use, because they say this is to ensure the security of the credit card.