Recycling plastic bags is not the answer to the plastic bag problem. First of all, plastic bags are generally not recycled into new plastic bags but into other types of products like decking material and carpet. So we are still needing to use virgin plastic (made from oil) to create new plastic bags. Plastic recycling is actually downcycling.

And the problem with allowing people to put plastic bags in their curbside recycling bins is that plastic bags are terrible for the sorting machines. They jam them up. I visited a recycling facility and wrote a whole post on my blog about the lessons I learned that day:

http://www.fakeplasticfish.com/2007/10/recycling-part-2-lessons-from-davis.html

The sorter was actually jammed up that day by plastic sheeting and bags, so I got to see firsthand the havoc they can wreak. I’m glad you are fed up with them. You and others like you should push for plastic bag bans in your city. Plastic, which comes from oil, is too precious to waste on disposable packaging and bags.

Beth Terry