A tin can analogy springs to mind. Why do we recycle tin cans? Why don't we just wash, check for corrosion and distortion, refill and reuse?
I think that is a very unfair analogy. When a tin can is opened & then thrown in the bin it is naturally distorted. It would also need to be setrilised before it could be reused. It's much cheaper to recycle.
As I previously stated, when I saw the first 3 airframes at Bournemouth being cleaned & stress tested, the techies were more than satisfied that the airframes were 5x thicker & stronger than necessary, a consequence of the way aircraft were virtually hand built in the 50s & 60s.
It wasn't the airframe that caused the problems over Afghanistan.