Plastic bags cannot be placed in your curbside recycling bin. ACUA may flag your container and refuse pickup if there are plastic bags present in your container.
Why?
The recycling sorting facility uses a largely automated system to sort the materials that come in. The plastic bags get twisted up in the gears of the system and cause major problems with the machinery, like this:
What To Do Instead
Please recycle your plastic bags at your nearest retailer. Click here to find locations near you.
When recycled together at stores, no sorting is required, and it’s easier for manufacturers that want to use them as feedstock to purchase them, which means they are sure to be recycled into more plastic items!
Many of these locations also accept the following plastic film:
- Retail, Newspaper, Dry Cleaning, Bread, Produce, and also other Plastic Bags labeled #2 and #4
- Zip Close Food Storage bags (clean and dry)
- Furniture and Electronic wrap
- Plastic cereal box liners (if it tears like paper do not include)
- Plastic shipping envelopes, including Tyvek ®, bubble wrap and air pillows (Remove labels and/or deflate)
- Product Wrap (used on paper towels, diapers, bathroom tissue, water bottles)
Visit Plastic Film Recycling for more information.