That is, recycling plastic X might be very profitable in 2015 and not at all be profitable in 2019. It is the same problem that producers of oil, aluminum and everything else have from time to time. Prices go up and prices go down.
If you don't care about money, then just give it all to me. If you do, then these people do too, which is why it's about profit and loss.
Not sure why the outburst/snark, I started my comment with "I understand commerce makes the world go around" ...
Pricing, supply, demand, are ways consumers indicate their interest in products and services, and recycling is very low value, because nobody cares.
In the late 1970s there was a a panic over energy and Aluminum prices were sky high. With no bottle deposit at all my dad and I picked Aluminum can out of dumpsters all over Manchester, NH and made enough money in a few weeks to buy a new Aluminum bicycle.
Later on the price collapsed and it was not worth doing.
Because making money by doing an activity is one well known way to do it long term, in a self-sustainable fashion. The other way is by force, which has many issues. Furthermore, in an open society (like most Western democracies), force use is very limited and cannot be sustained.
Either we find a way to make money out of fixing climate change or it won't happen, unless you're OK with global dictatorship.
The bigger factor that makes recycling harder to justify is that it’s very easy and cheap to make new stuff.
Last I looked most countries get very upset when others dump products on their markets at below cost. Chinese steel in America being a prime example.