lol, it's funny because you don't have the story.
In India it's been commercially viable to reuse and recycle for a very long time. For example, a carton of glazed paper used for fruit juice or milk would likely be returned to supply as a paper plate for snacks, newsprint would make paper bags for handing out peanuts and the like. A recycler would do the rounds of the suburbs collecting newsprint and other paper and pay you by the kilo for it. If you had too much tin you would take it to somewhere in town and sell it by the kilo too. If you had old brass sitting around that needed repurposing, wait for the once a year visit of the casting artisan, they'd make a clay mould from anything you want right there and melt your broken bits and cast you a new one for a fee. Soda bottles used to be reused forever, you'd pay a deposit for those at the shops - unfortunately they've picked up the bad habit of PET in this case.
Anyway, I don't know about China but the use and throw mentality here in oz creates far more rubbish than is necessary. It tends to lend some meaning to recycling. Also, transporting waste costs money. So, if you want your waste out of sight from an urban zone you'd have to pay lots, cheaper to just sort for recycling.
Yep, feeling academic right about now. Come sleep... ... ...
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