Single-stream recycling -- It’s “sweeping the country,” but does it lead to more recycled material and less trash in the landfill?

I live in Durham, North Carolina, but spend some time in New York City. In my NYC digs I recycle the old-fashioned way — separating plastics, paper and glass, and throwing them into separate bins.

But in Durham I just toss everything into a single cart and put the cart by the sidewalk every other week. From there, a truck picks it up and hauls it away, the plastic, paper and glass all jumbled together. And jumbled together they stay until arriving at a materials recovery facility (or MRF, pronounced MURF) where everything is separated out into its various recyclable and unrecyclable components.