A deposit refund [0] similar to what’s already in place for bottles and cans in some states might be the way to go if enough states/counties would actually implement it.
It allows for consumers to consider the “full cost” of being inconsiderate and not recycling properly while not “actually” increasing the cost of the product if they properly dispose of it. It also created a secondary market for scrapers/recyclers to collect and deposit items so there’s another chance it won’t enter the waste steam.
The deposit refund system also needs to be worth the effort. My state has a $0.05 deposit on bottles and cans. I used to save the original packaging, put the empties back in the box, and take the boxes to the the customer service counter at the grocery store. It was worth it for a little pocket change.
Now? It's all mechanized. I have to feed cans one by one into a machine that reads the barcode to be sure it is a product the store sells. Different machines accept cans vs bottles. This is a slow process. You often need to wait in line for each machine. Sometimes the machines are broken, or sometimes even a working machine fails to read the barcode and rejects 10% of your cans or bottles. When you are done, you take printed slips from the machines to customer service and wait in line to exchange them for cash.
It's not worth it. I still recycle, but I toss cans and bottles into my recycling bin and forgo the deposit.
Back when I lived in Oregon, they just paid some kid minimum wage to sort it. Those guys were fast at sorting too. They could get through 2 or 3 30 gallon bags in just a few minutes.
It allows for consumers to consider the “full cost” of being inconsiderate and not recycling properly while not “actually” increasing the cost of the product if they properly dispose of it. It also created a secondary market for scrapers/recyclers to collect and deposit items so there’s another chance it won’t enter the waste steam.
[0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deposit-refund_system