Can you recycle plastic bags? The short answer is yes, but not in your household recycle bin with the rest of your plastics. Mystified? We were too, and that’s what inspired this post. One day, we were scrolling through Facebook and came across one of those videos that suck you in. It was titled something like, “Items you thought you could recycle but actually can’t.” The video claimed that you can’t recycle plastic bags, because they aren’t processed the same as other plastics. Part of that is true. Plastic bags do tend to get caught in the machinery used to recycle other plastics. Read more about what happens here.
So, plastic bags have to be recycled differently. Let us reiterate something very important. Plastic shopping bags should never be placed in your home recycling bin. Never ever. Now, let’s talk about how to properly recycle plastic bags.
Can you Recycle Plastic Bags?
How to Recycle Plastic Bags
If you shop at the grocery store, and you don’t use reusable shopping bags, you probably accrue wads of plastic bags every week. Not recycling these wads of plastic bags is very dangerous for our environment. And, you can’t just throw them in your recycling bin with everything else. So, what do you do? Here’s what.
- Take them back to the grocery store, or any other store that accepts them.
- Here in Indiana, bins can be found at the front of the store in most Kroger, Wal-Mart, and Lowe’s locations. For the most part, large chain grocery stores will have a receptacle at the front of the store.
- Find a Plastic Film Recycling Center here.
- Also, try to reduce your use of plastic bags in general. Reusable shopping bags are way cooler and more durable anyway! Peep our favorite reusable shopping bags here.
- Finally, if you must keep some bags on hand (probably crammed under the sink), try to reuse them! Plastic bags can we reused as trash can liners or doggie waste bags.
We hope we’ve answered “Can you recycle plastic bags?” and given you some easy ways to properly recycle plastic bags. You can also learn more about reducing plastic waste here. But do you have bags or other waste that can’t be recycled? Are you looking to rid of junk and other items, but don’t want to do it yourself? Looking for a trusted and insured team to help you get clutter-free? Then give Fire Dawgs Junk Removal a call and we’ll assist you with your junk removal! But why choose Fire Dawgs?
