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It’s partially because of cost, new plastic is cheaper than trying to recover old. But very few plastics can be truly recycled chemically, much being reformed for other purposes. Glass and metals were always a better environmental choice (with their own limitations too), but plastic is so cheap and versatile it’s hard to compete. Not just plastics - just a look around the household imagining the lack of petroleum products, it’s amazing how it’s everywhere. Yet another dead end we’ve gotten ourselves into.
Credit, or a warning?
From my understanding a big part of the problem with PET is the availability, either because it’s such a small percentage of plastic and demand is too great, or because it gets lost among all the rest and so is mixed or ruined for recycling.
Honestly the debate on which material is better totally ignores the real problem - consumption demand. Reduce used to be the first ‘R’, but it was not friendly to the capitalistic mindset or an exploding population, so Recycling became the big focus along with the subtle blaming of the consumer for not being THE solution when they didn’t participate.