[recycledmatt]

Mining virgin materials uses much more resources than recycling. The material is already concentrated in the to be recycled items. Strong environmental controls must be in place with the recycling companies, but the impacts are less. Plus you have to think of the regulatory environment where the items are being processed. A domestic to US recycler, with threat of RCRA (Superfund) has incentives to make sure they are following best practices.

[Armisael16]

> Mining virgin materials uses much more resources than recycling.

That depends heavily on the material in question. Aluminum, yes. Plastic, no.

[recycledmatt]

The value here isn’t decided by the plastics. We are talking lithium, cobalt, copper as primary recovery. There are tons of interesting angles in plastic recycling. Engineered plastics do have value, other polymers not as much