@Tim Worstal
Your recycling example is a good one. If I'm Coke, and I need enough aluminum to make a billion cans a year, I don't care if it is "new" aluminum or recycled. If you sell me that aluminum, your aluminum output counts towards the GDP, whether or not it is smelted from bauxite or recycled from waste aluminum (like empty Coke cans)
If you were able to use renewable energy (hydro, solar, wind, whatever) in addition to waste aluminum, your operation would be almost entirely resource neutral on an ongoing basis.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
