Not the issue here, but I think equally relatable is when you get a bag of some kind that says it’s recyclable and it’s covered in stickers that you can’t peel off. Or, when you’ve got something composed of multiple plastic types, and only one type is recyclable, and there is no way way to separate them.

If the final product can’t reasonably be recycled then it doesn’t really matter if the components it’s made of can/could be recycled.