If you think consumer waste is bad, you ought to see shipping waste. Do you buy the dented, crushed, bent or other clearly visibly damaged products?
No? Most people don't. And market research has shown that not only will people not buy the product in the dented package, but they generally won't buy the same product in non-dented packaging. (Which is why most stores go through and quickly removed any damaged product from their shelves.)
But like every other commodity, recycled materials have a market. In fact when I worked for OCP a part of the maintenance managers budget hinged on the price of cardboard/paperboard. For several years, he was a profit center because those prices were high. In 2007 the market was flooded with cardboard/paperboard and he not only didn't max his bonus, he didn't even make bonus, because the prices were so low.
As it stands for me. I have a recycle bin. As much recycling as I can put in the less trash I have. I have to buy a sticker to put on my garbage can. currently that's $4.25 for your standard 33 gal can. So there is a financial incentive for me to use recyclable materials. But that's between me and the garbage hauler.
Finally, in regards to food packaging. The FDA sets some pretty strict guidelines regarding food packaging. So there is a trade-off between ensuring you don't kill your customers, transportability, and being "green". The best balance is a recyclable plastic cup. Putting it in wax paper is just asking for contamination and sick/dead customers. Did you ever notice that waxpaper isn't commonly commercially used for food? There's a reason for that.