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Hi PJ_R,
For your first question, there are two levels of recycle bin, Site Recycle Bin and Site Collection Recycle Bin, and the second level only allows access of admins, those actions are reducing the chance of data loss. Besides, you could set Retention Policies to prevent data loss of important content, and you could consider backup them manually.
About the other question, I think Vincent has provided the answer. You may refer to his reply.
@VincentChoy, thanks for your help.
Regards,
Alex