It works, but only if you're in a deposit charging state.
https://www.thepennyhoarder.com/make-money/quick-money/aluminum-can-recycling/
https://www.ncsl.org/research/environment-and-natural-resources/state-beverage-container-laws.aspx
Around here it’s a nickel per bottle/can or glass bottle that we pay.
Most recycle places pay by weight, and if you do the math (I did) you get about 1.76 for 50 plastic bottles by weight.
A nickel each would be 2.50.
They will give you a nickel each but with a limit of 50 bottles per person.
Then they closed the local one down, so you have to go 10 miles and they only take them by weight.
When I was a kid, you got what was paid for the bottle, 2 cents when I started recycling them.
And you could return glass bottles to any market and get the money for them. Back then they refilled them.
Now we are a disposable society,