I recycle a lot of stuff that comes into my house, but I don't recycle everything.
Here is my rule:
"If I don't know with confidence that it is recyclable, it goes in the trash".
"Trash" in my area isn't as bad as others. Where I live, trash is processed. Valuables like metals are pulled out, and the remaining stuff is turned to energy. Although incineration does release CO2, the same amount of CO2 is release when putting trash in the ground.
After the incineration process, the more metals are pulled out of the ash, and the ash is turned into bricks for capping old landfills.
Each locality has its own rules on what to recycle because each recycling facility has specific technical capabilities. And these abilities can change over time. So therefore, my first job is to pay attention to the current rules.
Without overriding the rules, here's what I generally do where I live:
Food containers
I generally recycle food containers made out of cardboard, paper, rigid plastic, and glass.
There are exceptions:
I trash paperboard cartons for liquids like Milk and OJ, and ice cream cartons. My locality says that these are unwanted, as they are a weird amalgam of paper and plastic coatings which are impossible to recycle. The same goes for some takeout containers.
Aluminum Foil
I generally recycle aluminum foil, but any plastic film (including "metalized film" gets trashed, as it is not recyclable where I live.
Cardboard Boxes
I keep many cardboard boxes for reuse. But I also I recycle a lot of cardboard boxes. I generally try to trash as much used tape and adhesive as I can because it seems very unlikely that sticky old adhesives are recyclable.
Packing Materials
I generally keep bubble wrap and packing foam for reuse. Stuff that isn't reasonable to reuse gets put in the trash.
Paper
Of course, paper gets recycled. But plastic-based "paper", binders, etc gets trashed.
Other Stuff
Old clothing gets donated.