/sci/ - Science & Math

Today I discovered that there are higher concentrations of aluminium in the average junkyard then there are in bauxite deposits.

I also know that aluminium is horribly expensive to extract from bauxite. Given these facts, why isn't it more common to be paid to recycle?

My time and effort are worth money, and if anyone is going to profit from cheap raw materials, I'd like to see a piece of the action. Instead recycling schemes are either compulsary or completely voluntary, with few actually paying the end user. Why?