I am Groot

I think Canada has way more robust recycling than in the US. But you can't tell me those Amazon boxes go straight to the Landfill. 

70% according to this cite: https://www.wm.com/thinkgreen/recycle-products/paper-cardboard.jsp#:~:text=Currently%2C about 70 percent of,like sawdust and wood chips.

The question is not just how much is recycled but the cost and how much extra CO2 is produced in the recycling process. There's lots of paper around and trees are a renewable resources. Same goes for Glass and sand. It's the plastic that's important and we seem to be sucking there.

Recycling plastic doesn't seem worth it which is why the powers that be are trying to reduce our reliance on plastics. Or at least single use plastics. 

Paper bags may take more energy to produce, but they're a renewable resource, as you say, and they don't take thousands of years to decompose.