This has been known for over fifty years when recycling got started. I remember hippies pushing the recycle hype back then, so people started separating colored and clear glass, paper, plastic. then after the pickup, they were followed and it was found they went to the trash dump and all that separated material were dumped together and buried.
“...people started separating colored and clear glass, paper, plastic. then after the pickup. It was found that all the separated material was dumped together and buried.”
We had separate bins for white paper, newspaper, colored paper, glass bottles, recyclable plastic, organic compostables / yard waste, and plain old garbage. Hauling all those tubs (not on wheels) out to the curb was a HUGE PITA. Then, after ten or 15 years, it suddenly stopped as fast as it had started. I think everybody realized that hauling all that stuff to third world countries for sorting was hugely expensive and a lot of them were sending it to the dump anyway.
Now there are three bins on wheels - mixed recycling (everything), yard waste / organics, and garbage. We are able to get away with the smallest garbage bin because the two recycle bins are HUGE.