INCREASED GARBAGE COLLECTION GRANULARITY FOR NON-VOLATILE MEMORY

A computer-implemented method, according to one embodiment, is for performing garbage collection. The computer-implemented method includes: causing pages in non-volatile memory that are due for garbage collection to be inspected, and causing certain ones of the pages in the non-volatile memory having valid data therein to be identified. Each of the pages of non-volatile memory includes multiple planes, and the valid data is included in one or more of the planes in the respective identified pages. Recirculation requests, that selectively exclude planes in the identified pages that do not include any of the valid data, are further sent to a recirculation pool.