It would be better to directly employ those people at sorting facilities, but that can be difficult for a number of reasons.
Meanwhile, there's not, so while the street looks like a war zone on recycling day (because people rip open bags to get cans while the bottles and everything else blows away), it's a symptom of a much deeper problem that nobody really wants to address. The income from collecting cans is all some people have to live on.
My understanding is that the city's latest plan is to arrest people for stealing their valuable cans; curbside recycling is a revenue generator! You know you don't have enough crime when this is what we're paying our detectives to investigate.
Not least of which is that they'd almost certainly need to be paid far, far more than they're making when they do it on their own.
Not that I disagree, though: overall the idea/point you made is a good one.
There are other complications though. The willingness of the public to employ such people, and the willingness of such people to be employed.
https://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/recycling/blogs/deposit-shelf-...
As an example, at work, I could put a drink bottle in my waste bin at my desk (which normally holds just clean paper) knowing that the cleaners will grab it and recycle it.
Additionally - yes, there are many people who fundamentally refuse to separate their trash, but will do so for a nickel per bottle.