Plastic Wrap and Bags

Plastic bag/wrap/film facts

  • Plastic bags are among the most common sources of marine debris, where they can be mistaken as food by birds and fish.
  • Plastic bags don’t biodegrade, meaning it will take hundreds of years for them to decompose in a landfill. (www.earth911)
  • More than 4.83 million tons of plastic film has been generated before 2020 and only about 9.1% of that plastic is recycled. (www.ecologycenter.org)
  • Today, we use about 100 billion plastic bags each year in the US, with the average lifespan of just 12 minutes per bag. (environmentamerica.org)
    • That’s 300 per person!

Recycling plastic bags

What can I drop at the grocery store?
Various collection programs are used by local retailers. For example, Stop&Shop and Shaw’s use NexTrex to recycle plastic wrap into “eco-friendly outdoor products”. For the full list of items that NexTrex accepts, please visit nextrex.com/view/educate.

ACCEPTED (partial list)
Please recycle only clean, dry plastic bags and film. NexTrex mainly accepts polyethylene (PE) plastic film (#2 and #4).

  • Remove receipts and any other items from bags.
  • If the package will stretch when you pull it, it can be included.
  • Retail, carryout, produce, newspaper, bread, dry cleaning bags
  • Zip-top food storage bags (clean and dry)
  • Plastic shipping envelopes (remove labels), bubble wrap and air pillows (deflate)
  • Product wrap on cases of water bottles, paper towels, diapers
  • Plastic cereal box liners (but if it tears like paper, do not include)

NOT ACCEPTED
If it tears like paper, is shiny, or makes a crinkly/crunchy sound in your hand, don’t put it in the bin.

  • Black plastic bags are generally not accepted.
  • Degradable/compostable bags or film packaging
  • Pre-washed salad mix bags and frozen food bags
  • Candy bar wrappers and chip bags

What about the “compostable” produce bags?
“Compostable” bags are designed to break down in controlled settings, but they don’t always decompose completely in home compost, leaving behind plastic-like fragments. 

More information

Check out these resources for more information.