A great friend of mine is a retired heavyweight from the environmental department of a major utility. He told me from day one of the recycling craze: “When they start paying you for your trash, then you will know that recycling is a worthwhile enterprise; otherwise, it is nothing but a feel good endeavour designed to appease the greenies.”
Before our township took over the trash/recycling collection, Waste Management gave us a credit for recycling. Wasn't much, about $15 and we separated the "recyclables". When the city took it over everything gets tossed into the same bin and no more credit.