The curbside recycling service in my town accepts plastic bags. I wonder whether there is any difference in the recycling process (thus there is any environmental benefit) between this and taking them to the grocery store, where there is a container specific for plastics.

The fact that some people make the effort to take them to the grocery store, while it is way more convenient to drop it in the recycling bin, makes me think there may be some advantage.

My local recycling service announces that they manually sort out the recycling materials.