Another problem with windmills is the energy cost it takes to build one can never be recovered in the lifetime of the windmill. So they are the opposite of a renewable energy source. They're simply energy consumers.

Exactly like nearly all recycling (aluminum being a rare exception). The cost of the energy input necessary to make recycling happen exceeds the monetary output of the system.

Almost all recycling, like electric cars or windmills for energy, is nothing but a sanctimonious exercise in virtue signaling. It costs more energy, time, money, and resources and creates more pollution than it reduces.