Why would they pay for it and then haul and dump it somewhere?

Like, I know the person at my county landfill that markets the sorted recycled plastic…

It makes me feel good to know that the container that my cottage cheese comes in can be, "recycled" and thus I feel good buying my cottage cheese. That's worth something, yeah?

#5 is one of the ones that isn't worth recycling.

I'm not really sure what your point is though. My initial comment is about the strange narrative that plastic was getting shipped to China for no reason (it would be cheaper to landfill it here than there, so the whole 'greed' thing means there was probably a reason for it).

I'm saying the false narrative that recycling is done really at all is a marketing ploy to sell more things, while making the consumer think they're making a good choice for the environment. Good marketing!