RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—Industry-funded research claims that plastic bag and plastic wrap recycling is up 27 percent since 2005. An estimated 830 million pounds of this type of plastic were recovered for recycling between 2005 and 2007, according to the report. The number is likely even higher now, because more stores offer plastic bag drop-off locations. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that about 380 billion plastic bags, sacks and wraps are used each year in this country.
THE DETAILS: The Plastics Division of the American Chemistry Council commissioned the report, which was conducted by Moore Recycling Associates. Most of the recovered plastics are sent overseas to be melted down and turned into other products such as composite lumber, deck materials, and more plastic bags.
WHAT IT MEANS: It’s great that people are recycling, but this is a classic example of precycling—reducing the need for a product in the first place—being the preferred choice. Although millions of the bags are now finding their way to recycling centers, even more are winding up in landfills. Or worse, in the ocean, where marine creatures like sea birds and whales confuse the plastic with food. Sea turtles often mistake plastic bags for jellyfish and die when the bags block their digestive system. The Ocean Conservancy estimates plastic bags are responsible for thousands of marine animal deaths each year.
Here’s how to deal with those pesky plastic bags:
• Say no thanks. Keep reusable shopping bags in your vehicle so you don’t have to use plastic or paper bags at the store. Or, when buying just a few items, tell the cashier you don’t need a bag. Using fewer plastic bags is the first, best defense, since that means fewer of them will be made. But completely eliminating them from your life isn’t so easy. So if you do wind up with plastic bags in your possession…
• Avoid kicking them to the curb. Tossing the bags into a garbage can is unacceptable for the reasons listed above. But curbside recycling is not your best bet when it comes to recycling plastic bags, according to Anita Patterson, vice president of environmental initiatives at Rodale. “Even if your trash hauler accepts the bags—not all of them do—they may wind up in a landfill if the market is down and the company can’t make money by recycling them,” she explains. Instead, take your bags to a recycling drop-off point at a nearby store or supermarket. Many grocers and large retailers have solid deals in place with recyclers, so their plastic is more likely to end up in fake lumber than in a landfill, says Patterson.
• Don’t muck it up with biodegradables. Biodegradable, often corn-based, plastic products sound like a good idea, but they come with special challenges. They’re unlikely to ever break down if you just throw them in the trash. On top of that, it’s really hard for the average backyard composter to create hot enough conditions to make the products disappear (in tests by the Rodale Institute, even their composting experts didn’t have much luck at it). And if you accidentally mix biodegradable plastics in with the plastic you recycle, it can actually contaminate the entire batch, Patterson explains. “Manufacturing companies that make the park benches and synthetic decking materials have make claims that the products will last a certain number of years,” says Patterson. “But the biodegradable bags contain vegetable products that breakdown in sunlight.” Manufacturers would rather not have them in the mix, and too many of them could make it unprofitable for them to use recycled materials. So don’t go for biodegradable plastic unless you want to try some long-term composting experiments in your yard.