Recycling Plastic Bags and Films

Plastic bags and plastic films are usually made of #2 HDPE (e.g. shopping bags) and #4 LDPE (e.g. bread bags). Almost all curb-side recycling programs will not except plastic bags and films even if they accept other #2 and #4 plastics. I'm pretty sure it's because of how thin they are, they do not separate from the rest of the recycling easily and get caught up in their machines.

If you want to collect these plastics and take them to a drop-off location, you have many options!


Find one close to you by searching at Plastic Film Recycling. The website has a list of acceptable types of bags and films and a search feature to find drop-off locations. You can also search at Earth911 but you will need to select either plastic bags or plastic films and select your desired number.

An Earth911 article as well as the Plastic Film Recycling website gives these examples of what you can take to a drop-off location to recycle and what you can not:

Do recycle:

• Grocery & retail, newspaper, dry cleaning, bread, produce, and other plastic bags labeled #2 and #4 (clean and dry)
• Zip close food storage bags (clean and dry)
• Product wrap (used as outer wrapping on paper towels, diapers, bathroom tissue, water bottles)
• The outer wrapping from bulk beverages
• 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, deflate)
• Any film packing or bag that has the appropriate How2Recycle label (shown at start of post)

Do not recycle:

• Food or cling wrap
• Prepackaged food bags (including frozen food bags and pre-washed salad bags)
• Plastic film that has been painted or has excessive glue residue

I searched both websites and found the following drop-off locations near me. If you have these stores near you, there is a good chance they will accept your bags and films:

• Giant Food 
• Whole Foods
• Walmart
• Acme
• Genuardi's
• Target 
• Lowe's
• JCPenney
• Sam's Club

You might be wondering, what's the how2recycle label all about? It's a new system that products are starting to adapt instead of, or in addition to, the traditional system. As we now know, it can be confusing if a plastic bag shows the recycle #4 symbol and your area says they accept #4 plastics, but they don't actually accept the plastic bags! This information is not usually conveyed very effectively, but with this new system each item can be recycled properly. Check out their website for more info.