It's a cost thing. Prices for energy have been so cheap that investing in recapture capex didn't make sense. With energy prices going up, it does make sense.
A funny anecdote (or sad?), after gas prices spiked in much of Europe due to the war many manufacturing facilities were looking to cut energy use, they found a lot of waste. Many places were able to reduce their gas usage by as much as ~33% if I recall correctly.
I can't find the original source, but here's [1] one that claims 23% lower consumption across Germany in 2022 adjusted for temperature.
A funny anecdote (or sad?), after gas prices spiked in much of Europe due to the war many manufacturing facilities were looking to cut energy use, they found a lot of waste. Many places were able to reduce their gas usage by as much as ~33% if I recall correctly.
I can't find the original source, but here's [1] one that claims 23% lower consumption across Germany in 2022 adjusted for temperature.
1 - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-023-01260-5