The latest blog post from Quinte Waste Solutions which talks about bags of all types!
A plastic bag, or “film” plastic as we call it, is recyclable. But what blue box do you put it in on collection day?
Plastic bags, should all be stuffed into one single bag, and be put on top of your paper/fibres blue box.
Many residents put their bag of bags in with their plastic and metal containers blue box. But this is incorrect, and causes issues during the sorting phase at the recycling plant. Our plant is divided in two during the sorting phase. One line sorts the paper/fibres, and the other line sorts plastic and metal containers. The way our plant is designed is to sort film plastic on the paper/fibres line.
Wind can be an issue if you only have one blue box, so placing a heavier paper product against your bags will stop them from blowing away from beside your blue box.
Here’s a common question. “I’ve heard not all plastic bags are recyclable, is this true?”
The answer is ”yes”. We can recycle “film” plastic. The best way to know if your plastic bag is “film” is to squish it in your hands. If it is quiet, and doesn’t make a loud crinkle noise, then it is probably film, and can be recycled. Most grocery bags are film plastic, as well as bread bags. If it makes a loud noise, it is most likely garbage.
“What about milk bags?”
Yes…BUT, they must be clean of all milk product and dry.
Chip bags, candy wrappers, stretch wrap, etc. are not recyclable, and should go into your regular household garbage.