> But the government tells the individual that they can't have a plastic straw or bag

Policies exist to improve the situation, they just need to be fought for (against the bottling companies):

> According to the Container Recycling Institute (CRI), the average nationwide recycling rate for beverage containers is around 35%. By contrast, Oregon’s beverage container redemption rate is regularly in the 80-90% range

https://obrc.com/results/how-bottle-bills-compare/

Plastic in a landfill is actually fine, even if wasteful, as long as the landfill is properly built.