Plastic bags. They keep our food fresh and safe, conveniently hold stuff together, and litter the heck out of our land and sea. So above all, the best plastic bag is the one not needed. That being said, despite our best efforts, plastic still comes into our life. It then becomes imperative that we deal with it responsibly.
Can I recycle plastic bags?
No, plastic bags cannot be mixed at our curbside mixed recycling bins, mostly because plastic film gets caught in the machinery at a Material Recovery Facility and mucks up the whole system. Plastic film, however, CAN be recycled at many grocery stores across Central Oregon. Look for bins usually located near the entrances, indoors or outdoors.
What is plastic film?
Grocery shopping bags are considered plastic film, and so are a lot of other common products that you’re probably currently tossing in the trash or tossing in hour home recycling bin, unaware of the headaches you’re creating down the line. Here’s a quick list of what you can bring:
⦁ Plastic shopping bags
⦁ Plastic shipping envelopes (yay, this is new!)
⦁ Bread bags
⦁ Dry cleaning bags
⦁ Case wrap (think case of water bottles)
⦁ Air pillows (often used in shipping packages)
⦁ Food storage bags (zip-locs)
⦁ Bubble wrap
⦁ Product overwrap (like toilet paper for example)
⦁ Newspaper bags (though here in Bend, Sarabella Upcycled loves upcycling these!)
Where can I recycle plastic bags and film?
Here is a current list of stores accepting plastic film drop off recycling, throughout Central Oregon:
⦁ Safeway
⦁ Albertson’s
⦁ Fred Meyer
⦁ Food For Less
⦁ Target
⦁ Best Buy
⦁ Lowe’s
⦁ Ray’s Food Place
⦁ Shop Smart
You can learn more about this at PlasticFilmRecycling.org and see more of our Recycling Resources online at RethinkWasteProject.org
