Correct, and furthermore the environmental gap keeps decreasing with each step to the right: in terms of impact, recycling is much closer to landfilling than it is to reusing.

> There is no conceivable reason these could not have been re-sued.

These seem like fairly conceivable reasons to me: maintenance, liability, safety concerns, and a lack of consumer-grade charging equipment

Why sell people a product when you can offer them a service and make even more money? Reduce and Reuse are bad for business, making Recycle the only economically viable option.

EDIT: @downvoter, can you tell me how our business climate doesn't suck this way?

You are absolutely correct.

Upvoter.

You're getting downvoted because this is a capitalist forum and your comment goes against the grain.