To be fair, Cities Skylines is very much a sandbox game. Outside of maybe 2 or 3 scenarios, nothing in it is very hard, or meant to challenge you a whole lot.

I don't build Water Treatment plants because I'm worried about losing, I build them because I don't like looking at the gunk in the water.

Same with a landfill vs recycling center. I build a dump when I feel that it suits the city (young city, or new rural area) Later as that place builds up I will relocate the dump outside of city limits, plop a recycling center in the dense part of town, and build an incinerator somewhere else.