Simply put, recycling is as complicated as you think it is (if you think it's simple, then you are part of the problem). I don't intend to write a huge article here, but I hope you find this useful....
At the risk of sounding like a food blogger's recipe post starting with a life story, I do need to set some context. I'm a GenX'er, so I was educated in the days of Greenpeace, Jacques Cousteau, Earth Day, etc. and I took the conservation part to heart, (hence my conservative politics?) for the most part. In my youth I was a camper, canoe-er, horseback rider, leave it cleaner than you found it kinda guy. I don't do some of those activities much anymore, but still believe it. I HATE litter. Graffiti. Not using turn signals (oops, that's not pertinent, even if true).
I've left a couple of can-crushers and receptacles at former places of work, and have said on more that one occasion that I don't understand NOT recycling as most waste management companies have made it so easy. Well, that's a joke, as it turns out.
I don't even remember how this little documentary/video news story found its way into my attention, but a reporter placed trackers in some recycling at the British grocery giant Tesco and learned a lot. Watch it, it's only 10 minutes or so. One cool thing is that Poland's cement industry does is take the plastic waste and use it for feeding their kilns instead of coal. They actually get paid a little to take the waste from the recycling/waste handlers.
It's not all clean, of course, much is disposed of and burned illegally and dangerously. There are plenty of legit energy companies doing it as cleanly as possible.
Here's another video, this one is from Frontline.
The reality is that recycling isn't really helping, but is still being pushed for emotional and public perception reasons. That's unfortunate.
