Delays in construction are also waste but not so visceral or visible. It might have turned out that it was cheaper to destroy them than have them salvaged, including the labor cost of managing the salvage.
That requires someone to put in a conscious effort to manage and people are lazy when it's not their money.
Also (thanks in large part to internet commenters, many of whom on HN fit this archetype) people are afraid that a liability waver doesn't cover them when in reality unless there are aggravating circumstances a liability waver pretty much always caps your loss at the consult fee required to get your lawyer to tell the ambulance chaser to f off.
Recycling can only slow the loss of raw materials, not prevent it. So we'll either run out eventually anyway or we won't run out anyway. Your argument doesn't work.
