Recycling can be Done in many ways: reuse the bottle or melt the plastic and make new bottles, repuropse (as building material or filling etc) or as energy (use plastic as fuel). Using it as fuel in a powerplant is very common. There is even a ”trash market” in europe. Powerplants that use trash as fuel Buy it to be able to produce electricity and heat. Why powercompanies dont do it USA is beyond me. Here the fumes from the plant are filtered so they are clean. Trash in a landfill is a environment hazard.