Plastic bags, wrap, and film packaging are not accepted in our curbside recycling program and should not be placed in your recycling cart.
This includes — but is not limited to — the following types of flimsy plastic (plastic you can scrunch up in your hand):
- shopping bags (any size or color)
- produce bags (any color)
- Sandwich bags (i.e. Ziploc bag)
- bread bags
- dry cleaning bags
- newspaper bags
- garbage bags
- wrap (i.e. Syran)
- bubble packaging
Recycle Your Plastic Bags at Supermarkets or Drugstores
Many local supermarkets and drugstores will accept your clean, dry plastic bags and plastic film in recycling receptacles near their entrances. Clean your plastic bags of food debris, collect them, and return them to the store on your next trip.
Better yet – don’t use plastic bags at all! Reusable bags are widely available and easy to use for everything from your kid’s sandwich to produce at the market.
If you aren’t able to return a plastic bag to a local market for recycling, it should, unfortunately, go into your Garbage Cart.
Please do not bag your recyclables! On the recycling processing line, the bag is not going to be opened and instead will be put into garbage meaning all those recyclable items inside your bag will end up in landfill.
Recycling Plastic Right
In this short video, you’ll learn how remembering the mantra “bottles, tubs, and jugs” will help you ensure that you’re putting the right plastic in your recycling. Remember: keeping your film plastics out of your recycling may feel like a small contribution, but when it’s multiplied by the entire community, it makes an enormous difference!
Try Our What Goes Where Tool
Not sure how to properly dispose of something? Search our What Goes Where tool to find out if a material can be reused, recycled, composted, or disposed of in your trash.
