Autosave Notes
The August 21 patch says autosaves now work when a new trash heap is opened, not only when exiting the game.
Safe Save Test
Open a new trash heap, collect or recycle something easy to recognize, exit normally, relaunch, and confirm whether the change persists.
What Not to Do First
Do not wipe local data, reinstall, or delete saves before checking Steam Cloud status and backing up the save folder.
Useful Evidence
Record the exact action that failed to persist: card collection, money, upgrades, collectibles or achievement unlock. Different failures point to different causes.