I was under the impression that the only thing really being recycled was aluminium (and other metals, to some extent). Typical plastic and paper waste is prett

I was under the impression that the only thing really being recycled was aluminium (and other metals, to some extent). Typical plastic and paper waste is pretty dirty, due to misunderstanding of what can be recycled - anywhere from just thinking anything vaguely paper or plastic can be recycled to places where people apparently think recycling bins are just different colored trash bins (or just dont care). Contamination of otherwise recyclable materials by food is also an issue. Its also not worth much since the feedstocks for new paper and plastic is pretty cheap. Glass is also fairly worthless, since it needs to be sorted by color to realistically be recycled. Mixed glass I believe is generally landfilled or "up-cycled" into some sort of crushed aggregate for various purposes.