This probably depends on the country, and perhaps even municipality, but plastic is recycled properly here (.nl). Plastic, drinking cartons and metals are coll

This probably depends on the country, and perhaps even municipality, but plastic is recycled properly here (.nl). Plastic, drinking cartons and metals are collected in the same container. These three are separated using magnets[1] and infrared scanners. The plastics are melted down to little pellets that can be used to create new products. A common example are shampoo bottles. This video is in Dutch, but it has some overview of these sorting machines: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gf--8o3yD6g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gf--8o3yD6g Based on this video about plastic recycling in Germany, I think the situation is very similar there: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_fUpP-hq3A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_fUpP-hq3A The video is in English. The plastics that are recycled there seem to be PET, PP and HDPE. I'm absolutely in love with all the neat little tricks these machines use to sort the stuff. From simple ones like sieves and centrifuges, to fans and advanced imaging stuff. It's beautiful. [1] Even aluminium can be sorted with magnets by doing some magic.