Sounds a lot like Japan. There’s colored bags that you can buy at the store for “combustible” and not waste. Then there’s metal and glass pickup, small yard waste (mostly twigs), electronics, paper, and certain plastic has a dropoff. I’ve never heard of trash police issuing fines, but they’ll leave your items behind if it’s the wrong day or type.

When I lived in the US it was just two bins - trash (which was really anything you can fit in a bag, nobody checks) and recycling. Recycling varied by municipality but it was mostly single-stream glass, metal, and most plastics. Things like plastic bags and Styrofoam couldn’t go in the recycling but most places like the grocer would take bags or fluorescent bulbs or batteries.

Of course, multiple studies have shown that most plastics just end up burned or in the ocean so guess it doesn’t much matter how they are collected…

Most medium-large cities also have a few secondhand book stores. For a couple bucks you can get a book, go to a park, that’s an afternoon right there.