You CAN recycle them! That's the clear and simple takeaway from this post – plastic bags and wrapping can be recycled, so they don't need to end up in the rubbish bin!
The answer is yes. You can recycle soft plastic bags! You can also bring your bags and soft plastic bags to RedCycle locations – in most Coles and Woolworths centres and they will recycle them for you.
Yes, Plastic bags and wrapping can be recycled at some out of home recycling points.
What should I do with my soft plastics? As we work towards finding an alternative sustainable solution to recycling soft-plastics, customers are encouraged to put their soft plastics in their home rubbish bin. Please do not put it in your home kerbside recycling bin as it is not recyclable in this system.
When kept dry and separate from other waste, clear plastic wrap from retail businesses makes for a higher grade of recyclable. Clear plastic wrap such as shrink wrap and pallet wrap can be separated and placed in a dedicated bin for easy recycling.
No. Whatever you do, don't put soft plastics in your regular recycling bin along with other items like glass bottles, cardboard and aluminium cans.
Bubble wrap can be recycled alongside other plastic films, like plastic bags, at designated recycling bins. These bins are typically advertised for plastic bag recycling and can be found at most grocery stores.
Please recycle only clean, dry plastic bags and film. Remove receipts or any other items from bags. Examples include: Retail, carryout, produce, newspaper, bread, and dry cleaning bags (clean, dry and free of receipts and clothes hangers)
All the national grocery retailers (such as Kroger, Safeway, Target and Walmart) and many smaller retailers offer bag recycling collections in their stores. The bins are usually located near the front entrance.
In your recycling bin or bags, you can put: plastic – including bottles, pots, tubs, cartons and carrier bags (empty and untied) paper – including newspapers, magazines and letters. cardboard – including cereal and egg boxes.
Examples of non-recyclable plastics include bioplastics, composite plastic, plastic-coated wrapping paper and polycarbonate. Well known non-recyclable plastics include cling film and blister packaging.
Clean residential aluminum foil and plates are accepted in the curbside blue box recycling program and for free at Recycle BC Depots found here.
You CAN recycle them!
If you are not one of the lucky ones, then, for the time being, your local participating supermarket is the place to go. Many larger branches now have collection points for plastic bags and wrapping recycling at the front of their stores, so check our Recycling Locator to find your nearest one.
There's no need to wash or crush your recyclables. Just separate your aluminum, glass, and plastic containers in different bags or bins, and head for the recycling center.
Most hard plastics coded 1 to 7 can be recycled in your yellow-lidded recycling bin, however expanded polystyrene foam, number 6, and plastic bags, which are usually number 2 or 4, cannot be recycled through kerbside recycling bins.
Can I recycle my plastic bags? Unfortunately, as of 9 November 2022, the REDcycle soft plastics recycling program is unavailable at Woolworths and Metro stores. REDcycle is no longer operational.
Plastic is to be kept separately from the wet/liquid and organic waste so that it is easy to hand it over for recycling. The clean segregated plastic should be sent for recycling through ragpickers/ recycling agencies.
Rather than decomposing, the standard plastic bags break down into tiny pieces that get consumed by a variety of organisms and make their way up the food chain.
In the latter usage, the distinguishing color serves to assist in recycling programs; blue typically indicates that the bag contains glass, plastic or polyethylene content.
Firstly, all the plastic from plastic bags gets collected together. Then, it all gets put through a special machine at a recycling centre. From here, plastic bales are created. This is done to make it easier to transport the plastic to the proper processing plants.
Unfortunately cling film cannot currently be recycled and should be put into your non-recyclable bin. The outer packaging and inner tubes that are made of cardboard can be placed in most household collections.
Technically, tissue paper, like all paper, is recyclable as long as it is free of contaminants such as foil and glitter. It can be repulped and turned back into another form of paper.
Can polystyrene be recycled? Polystyrene is a type of plastic which is not commonly recycled and should be placed in the waste bin.