Wow! You are hard-core! I am the worst recycler ever. I've lived so many places and never figure out how to prepare the trash for the location before it goes out the door. I'm in SE Asia where it feels impossible to make a dent now anyway.
When I was in Bangkok they double and triple bag everything and you can't stop them unless you want to fight all day in another language. This is a big shock to all westerners who go there. But people come out at night to go through your trash to get what they can and seemed to be very efficient. Now in Malaysia the trash where I live is under lock and key, so I am not sure what happens after that.
We used to live in a city and there was an incinerator there, but we still took some stuff to recycling banks, namely paper and cardboard, bottles and cans. Here in Wales there's a recycling centre in the town and you can even take broken electric gadgets and furniture there - we have rescued some good skeleton chairs which I'm hoping to refurbish when my back's better :DIt's so interesting to hear other realities,@fitinfun. I guess there may be a different reality just round the corner or in the countryside.