When I lived in a crappier area of a city I noticed an interesting system: "scrappers" - poor, probably homeless, people who would dig through your trash looking for recyclables that they could sell.
So there was this totally organic system that had emerged which helped make sure the trash didn't contain things that still had value. Of course it wasn't perfect, not to mention that we really don't want people to have to do that. Interesting non the less.
Michigan has a 10 cent bottle/can deposit and it's very common for homeless people to go through trash looking for bottles and cans.
Before and after college football games it's common for people to go around asking for empties at the tailgate. They can make a pretty good amount of money on those days.
Yes, they would also go through my recycling bin. That part may be a net negative, because I assume they take the most valuable stuff and leave the rest for the city, which has to cover the costs of picking up and processing most of the recycling.
So there was this totally organic system that had emerged which helped make sure the trash didn't contain things that still had value. Of course it wasn't perfect, not to mention that we really don't want people to have to do that. Interesting non the less.