Plastic films

Alot of people ask about plastic film recycling.  This is something which is offered in Shropshire but not through the formal Council services, you have to take it back to the larger supermarkets around the county where they have carrier bag recycling containers in-store, this includes the larger super stores of: -

• Tesco
• Co-op
• Sainsburys
• Asda
• Morrisons

Most of us visit a large supermarket on a very regular basis and so it should be effortless to take your plastic bags and film back with you when you visit the stores instead of binning them.  I find the easiest thing is to keep a carrier bag in a cupboard and then i cram all my plastic bags into one. Its amazing how much you can squeeze in if you keep squashing more and more plastic film in there!  

And the key thing is now its not just plastic bags you can recycle but any of the similar stretchy plastic film.  So for example in the last week or so heres some things i have kept out of landfill and recycled with my carrier bags. 

A stretchy plastic wrapper from a multi pack of baked beans.  (Similar plastic wrappers found on multipacks of drinks cans etc can also be recycled with your carrier bags).  The simple thing is if it looks like a plastic bag and feels like a plastic bag then it probably is made of polythene and therefore OK to be included with the supermarket carrier bags for recycling.

 

Another one I recycle all the time is the plastic liner from cereal boxes - these are made of exactly the same plastic as carrier bags so can go back to the supermarket bag recycling point.

 

 

I also add all the plastic bags that my fruit and veg come in from apples to grapes and potato bags like this they can all be recycled at the larger supermarkets. 

 

 

Another useful tip is to look in your freezer - because generally speaking if a product is destined for freezing it will be wrapped in polythene, so all the bags your frozen peas and oven chips come in - all those sorts can be recycled with your carrier bags.  Also if you use freezer bags, the ziplock type or

 

 

Other obvious examples include plastic bags used for bread, which are obviously the same material as plastic shopping bags and so can be included.  One way to check if you want is to try the "stretch test".  Polythene is very stretchy and it will tend to stretch and give if you pull on it, unlike more brittle plastic films.  

 

To help make it a bit easier - some food & packaging producers and supermarkets are helpfully labelling the plastic as recyclable now.

For example this loo roll bag was well labled as (low-density) polythene which is the technical term for the type of thin stretchy plastic film they make carrier bags from.  
 

 

 

Other good examples I found include Kingsmill bread - so well done them for using the official British Retail Council on-pack label to remind everyone to "recycle with carrier bags at larger stores".
 

 

And brownie points too should go to West Mid Co-op who now have a policy of labelling all their fresh produce bags like this example I found on celery. 

 

Other common examples of recyclable plastic film includes magazine wrap, shrink wrap, polythene courier bags, plastic garment covers from the dry cleaners, plastic grocery bags, can six pack rings (you know the stretchy plasitc 'yolks' used to hold drinks cans together, and obviously all types of plastic shopping bag including bags for life.

Hopefully you will see more and more producers label the packaging, like this.  The clear instruction "Recycle with carrier bags at larger stores" and "not at the kerbside" hopefully makes it clear that you cant put this in the council plastic collections but you can recycle it simply by dropping it off at the supermarket next time you go shopping - its really easy and it will make a big difference, reducing the amount of rubbish in your bin and protecting the environment.

So the key message is if its plastic and its stretchy, dont bin it take it back to the supermarket for recycling!

For more information check out the recycle now webpage http://www.recyclenow.com/what-to-do-with/plastic-film