Why Can’t I Recycle Bags in the Recycling Bin?

Recycling Rules

Why No Bags in the Bin?

Plastic bags and film are not accepted in the mixed recycling bin.

  • End-users who make recycled products do not accept bags and film from mixed recycling processors like Millennium, only from “clean” separated sources like retail drop-off locations.
  • Along with having nowhere to send the material, plastic bags and film cause major  issues at the recycling facility:
Pulling out bags

Plastic bags must be pulled out by hand, making them very labor intensive and difficult to capture.

Bags Jam Equipment

If not pulled out, plastic bags wrap around recycling equipment and quickly jam up processing screens.

Cutting Bags Out

When too many bags get stuck, we have to shut down the equipment and manually cut them out.

Flying Plastic Bags

Plastic bags easily escape bins, trucks and landfills, littering our land and waterways.

Film burned around shaft

This plastic bag “film” was cut out after it burned and melted down, hard as rock. Shut down processing for 2 hours at Millennium.

Along with other “stringy” items, check out the bags stuck in this recycling equipment.