Millennium Update on Plastic Film & Bags

Community Recycling News

It’s been one year since plastic film was banned from the single stream. In January, 12.4% of single stream loads contained over 5% of bags and 6 local haulers had zero penalties. As of June, loads containing over 5% of bags have dropped to 7.3% and the number of haulers with no penalties is now at 10 (calculated monthly).

If looking only at residential sources, the percentage of film in loads last month was closer to just 2%!

We are happy to share these numbers, particularly with the increase of plastic bags being used by retailers due to COVID restrictions on reusable bags.

Although it’s been a challenge to get bags out of the single stream, the numbers don’t lie and we are slowly getting the loads cleaner.

Thank you for your help, let’s keep the trend going in the right direction!