Recycling Questions

I've never had recycling before but just rented a house with recycling service. I have a couple questions. I apologize is this is the wrong sub but I was told that the recycling process varies from place to place.

1. Does a human actually go through the recycling and make sure everything is actually recyclable? It's so obnoxious that not everything has the recycling logo in the same spot. I'm not sure why it's not just always above the logo. Sometimes I can't find the recycling logo but I don't know if I'm just too blind to see it or if it's non recyclable.

2. If I want to recycle something but can't find a symbol on the packaging, should I err on the side of recycle or garbage?

Thanks for any help in this matter.