"they don't make um like they used to,"

You have probably never had and used a quality product.
And that is why you think the phrase is cliche.

Even the contractor grade shovels at WhiteCap are not what they used to be.

Clothing is REALLY not what it used to be.
You can't even buy the same cloth at a cloth store anymore.

The plastic lid and the glass container are actually about the same cost and trouble to manufacture.
And neither of them are very recyclable.

Would you ship a truckload of dirt half way across the states, so you didn't have to dig up more dirt? That is what we are asking of most "recycling" places.

However, there are several industries, that basically can use recycled glass / plastic who set up next door to the recycling place. Such as Owens Corninglass insulation.

Any mass manufacturing system finds it more expensive to ever provide replacement parts.
If you had the injection mold to make those lids, it would cost you $2000 (to get it installed in a machine), so the first lid will cost you $2001. And then storage, and some kind of on-line sales, so the conscious person could find it, then order it. And then someone to pack that one item from the dusty old box it was stored in...

Nah, just buy a new set. It is cheaper for the world.