Recycling Plastic Bags
I thought I heard on TV that plastic bags can't be recycled, is that true?
Forum Discussion
OK, Folks, one of my responsibilities at Public Works was Engineer for the Solid Waste Program.
Most (reread that: MOST) recycle plants cannot process the lightweight plastic bags from retail stores, newspaper deliveries, and such.
The light material gets strung out and wraps itself around the drive sprockets of the processing machinery. The entire line has to be shut down to untangle it.
A few plants are specifically set up to handle lightweight plastics (Disney World has one, for instance.) usually involving transporting stuff by forced air, rather than belts.
Also, as an interesting sidelight, most paper recyclers cannot handle shredded paper (from your home document shredder) since the bag gets ripped apart and the shreds go all over the place like itchy snow.
Most (reread that: MOST) recycle plants cannot process the lightweight plastic bags from retail stores, newspaper deliveries, and such.
The light material gets strung out and wraps itself around the drive sprockets of the processing machinery. The entire line has to be shut down to untangle it.
A few plants are specifically set up to handle lightweight plastics (Disney World has one, for instance.) usually involving transporting stuff by forced air, rather than belts.
Also, as an interesting sidelight, most paper recyclers cannot handle shredded paper (from your home document shredder) since the bag gets ripped apart and the shreds go all over the place like itchy snow.
