Well, no. If recycling programs were actually involving the government checking if the stuff in there was actually recyclable then there would be no problem whatsever meeting those standards.

That is, apparently, not part of those recycling programs.

Turns out the only recycling that was ever done was making great stickers (from oil, of course, you can't make this up). And of course, the government hiring external companies (no doubt owned by "the right people"), who weren't expected to do anything. Nobody wants to check, nobody does check, and I keep hearing it isn't even kept separate.