Where I live it’s only 1-2. Also, sorting is a challenge, and we often don’t know if it actually gets recycled or ends up on a ship to India.

Yes, you have to be on a paid plan to use the bridge. I wouldn’t call it “exclusive”, because anyone can sign up for a paid plan. But that isn’t the problem the author mentioned. He said the bridge was finicky, which I haven’t experienced at all.

I’ve been using Thunderbird with the Proton bridge for years with zero issues. I’m not sure what issues the author has had with it.