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> you'd expect there'd be no glass bottles of anything (beer, mustard, maple syrup) if that was the case

That's completely different - you're confusing recycling with reuse. The bottles you're referring to are made anew from glass that has been smashed into cullet and re-cast into new glass.

What the commenters above are advocating are thicker glass bottles that are washed and reused as-is, i.e. reuse.

Different QA concerns when you're manufacturing fresh glass versus collecting it from randos

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Bullshit. The Club Mate I'm drinking right now came in a reused glass bottle. Some of these bottles have more wear on the outside, some of them look pristine.