I've pragmatically come to the conclusion that we need to incinerate our plastic waste, instead of recycling. Modern, efficient, no dioxin producing incinerators like they have in Sweden. I'm a dark green environmentalist, but plastic is so entrenched in our economy and way of life.
Plastic is a waste byproduct of the oil industry and is therefore as cheap as chips. Those fractions would otherwise be wasted (and have to be dealt with as toxic waste) if not used for plastic manufacture. It makes sense to burn them for municipal heating and energy... thus offsetting some requirement for virgin fossil fuels. We need to be just as concerned and seeking to significantly reduce fossil fuel use overall, not just plastic because waste is so pernicious and visible.
Recycling plastic is hugely confusing to the average, and even fairly clued up householder. Many people are "over-optimistic" recyclers and chuck any old plastic item in the recycling box. Many others are half-hearted and chuck items with heavy food residue on. Both meaning that the recycling stream is contaminated and has to be landfilled... maybe being shipped to the Far East to do so.
Recycling plastic isn't like recycling metal or glass, which can theoretically be continuously recycled ad infinitum and retain the same quality. Plastic can only be realistically "downcycled". It can become secondary goods like park benches and polyester fleeces, but there's only a limited market for that, compared to the huge volume of plastic waste. When plastic bottles are recycled, they become slightly yellow and opaque and therefore less desirable to consumers. Yellow looking water isn't going to sell to consumers any time soon 
That isn't to say we shouldn't be trying to massively reduce our consumption of the material. I try to buy meat from the butcher's with my own pre-existing tupperware/produce from the greengrocer (or Morrisons where I can do likewise), refill my own shampoo/washing up bottles from the health food shop, use bar soap etc etc. But these are individualist solutions to what is a collective problem. Many people can't afford to do this, don't have the time or don't live places where this is possible. We need solutions from government/industry, not rely on the fallacy of individualistic liberal green consumerism, which is only available to the time/money affluent and advantaged in society.
There's also the danger of unintended consequences. If we shift to more paper use instead, that is also environmentally catastrophic. Paper manufacture uses vast quantities of energy, bleach and dangerous chemicals that get discharged into the environment. It's also heavier, therefore uses more fossil fuels in transportation. Glass is also likewise a lot heavier than plastic and it's difficult to ascertain where the trade off lies... environmental impact assessments are notoriously complex. Also, if we live in a society where transportation of food takes place over great distances, which realistically is where we are, then plastic is to some degree environmentally beneficial. Waste food due to spoilage far is more damaging than the packaging alone.
Recycling to me is merely rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic. We should be aiming to reduce, repair and reuse, with impetus coming from organisations, not individuals. Individual actions are necessary, yes, but they're nowhere near sufficient.