What's the point of recycling?

As I see it, first of all you throw the items out (say for example, gl) then it's got to be transported to the recycling factory (taking up energy and creating fumes), then it's got to be cleaned (again using energy), then it's got to be refined and turned back into another commodity (again producing more energy). It all seems a bit a r s e about elbow to me. I could agree and understand recycling if we were using clean fuels and renewable energy to recycle, but it just seems a bit pointless to me at the moment. Can anyone educate me? Thankyou.