This article discusses the problems that are created by "one-binning" our recycling: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/american-recycling-is-stal

This article discusses the problems that are created by "one-binning" our recycling: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/american-recycling-is-stalling-and-the-big-blue-bin-is-one-reason-why/2015/06/20/914735e4-1610-11e5-9ddc-e3353542100c_story.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/american-rec... The problems are mostly a collision of too much recycling, too much expectation for post-bin sorting, a disconnect about the value of recyclable materials (glass is heavy but almost worthless), outfall of the death of the newspaper industry, and reduction in packaging materials (thinner plastic bottles, movement from coffee cans to coffee bags). In the City of Seattle, they were paying about $50/ton to landfill trash in 2011. A city official said they were only working with Cedar Grove while the costs for recycle and compost were below that. The city is mentioned in the article for the addition of composting to its recycling program, and how this keeps more trash out of landfills.