I think you are jumping the gun on who is at fault for this "laziness".  We used to separate recyclables.  Then the demand became so large that it didn't matter.  Now it does.  I think what most folks are missing with this story is that demand has fallen for raw materials.  This does not speak well for the world, US, state, and local economies.

Back to recyclables:
Step 1.  Separate all metal (especially aluminum cans) from everything else.
Step 2.  Shift as much bottling as possible to aluminum.
Step 3.  Don't ever forget this real world economic lesson.