That's the way it should be.

I live in Alberta, where there is still lots of space for landfills.

I would follow the trail after the stuff lands in the recycling depot. From what I understand, it is much cheaper to manufacture glass from pure material than use recycled material. I can't see how the economics would be different anywhere else. My depot puts out a glass bin to placated those who believe glass should be recycled. But we are fooling them.

Our cardboard goes almost anywhere in North America: Montreal, Seattle, Houston. It is shuttled by a back-hauls of trucks trying to earn some revenue after dropping off their primary load. When cardboard reaches its destination, it needs to be de-inked. Somehow that ink ends up somewhere.

Our recycling depot used to send a lot of plastic to China. We would sort out the good stuff, but fill half the container with unrecyclable plastic. China used to accept that, but no more.

Some plastic could be recycled. But we already struggle with well-meaning souls not wanting to make the effort to sort the plastics. Many people believe that all plastics should be recycled. But it is not economical for the depot to separate the plastic with market value.