In the US it wasn't the same system. The soda companies ran the bottle recycling system because it was cheaper to wash and reuse the bottle than to make new one

In the US it wasn't the same system. The soda companies ran the bottle recycling system because it was cheaper to wash and reuse the bottle than to make new ones. They switched to plastic because it was cheaper to make new plastic bottles than reuse old glass ones. The government systems described here went into place as a way to reduce the resulting trash.