What proof do you have that your waste is being processed correctly? I have proof mine is not and plenty of news reporting from across the US in the last 5 years that says consumer curbside recycling is basically dead.

Recycling is voluntary in the US, not legally required.

Its not illegal, which is how things work in the states.

It's hard to blame them entirely when the facilities to separate and recycle the waste were never fully built in the US and we spent decades shipping bales of consumer recycling to Asia where it was often deemed too dirty to use for recycling and was burned instead. You can find tons of great articles about the collapses of consumer recycling and the unraveling of the plastic recycling lies sold to the American public, it came about 2021 and continued to be a hot topic through 2023. Today, my shitty neighborhood has collectively stepped down from a proper waste pickup with bins, to 4 guys and a truck who collect and take the waste to a nearby incinerator. We know it can't be an "official" waste collection company by the "We Love Junk" signs on the truck enjoying our cans, but we've been told this is fancy hand collection that is quieter than standard trash trucks and we should be grateful. (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻)

I'm just speaking as someone who does carefully separate everything, only to watch the truck put it all the same place. My individual actions mean fuck all if the rest of the process doesn't work.