I've lived an 7 states from coast to coast, north and south, and in all but 2 we sorted our materials. Just because it doesn't happen where you are from doesn't mean it's not happening everywhere else.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/american-rec...

The problems are mostly a collision of too much recycling, too much expectation for post-bin sorting, a disconnect about the value of recyclable materials (glass is heavy but almost worthless), outfall of the death of the newspaper industry, and reduction in packaging materials (thinner plastic bottles, movement from coffee cans to coffee bags).

In the City of Seattle, they were paying about $50/ton to landfill trash in 2011. A city official said they were only working with Cedar Grove while the costs for recycle and compost were below that. The city is mentioned in the article for the addition of composting to its recycling program, and how this keeps more trash out of landfills.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wwcap_-9tuA&t=0m20s

Having only two kids and ending all immigration makes more sense. Population growth utterly dwarfs the impact of any feasible consumption reduction approaches.