The paper considers the recombination processes involving disordered regions (DR's). A general expression for the lifetimeTrwith respect to recombination on DR's at low injection levels is obtained under the assumption of one recombination level existing inside the DR. An analysis is made of the dependence of the lifetimeTron the equilibrium height of the potential barrier and the location of the Fermi level μ. The rate of recombination on DR's is found to be maximum at ψo = ψ0minwhere ψ0minis determined by the recombination center parameters and the majority carrier concentration is undamaged material. The temperature and injection dependences of the lifetime axe considered. The DR's are shown to introduce additional asymmetry into the trapping cross-sectionsTrapping on the centers inside a DR is considered. The DR's are proposed to be classified as “recombination DR's” when ψ0≈ ψ0min, and “trapping DR's” when ψ0> ψ0min. The effective lifetimeTeffis calculated.