Plastic Bag, Wrap and Film

Plastic bags and wrap make up the category “plastic film” (but not the kind used in cameras!)  It includes everything from grocery and bread bags to the shrink wrap and plastic film around bulk products like paper towels and water bottles.  Recyclable plastic film is identified with the #2 (HDPE) or #4 (LDPE) recycling symbol.

DO NOT PUT PLASTIC BAGS, WRAP OR FILM IN YOUR CURBSIDE REYCLE CONTAINER!  Plastic bags, wrap and film of any type are NOT acceptable in curbside recycling programs.  The plastic wraps around and tangles the recycling sorting equipment, causing the entire facility to shut down in order to cut the bags out of the conveyors and sorting equipment.

To Recycle go to  plastic, bag and you will find a list of drop off locations.

Why Recycle Plastic Bags? 

• Plastic bags are among the most common sources of marine debris, where they can be mistaken as food by birds and fish.
• Plastic bags don’t biodegrade, meaning it will take hundreds of years for them to decompose in a landfill.
• Plastic is a petroleum product.  Recycling a ton of plastic bags (about 450,000 bags) saves 11 barrels of oil.

Plastic Bag Recycling Process

Plastic bag recycling involves chipping the bags into pellets. While pellets can then be reprocessed into new bags, they will most likely be shipped to a company like Trex® to be manufactured into plastic lumber.