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Plastic Bags & Film Plastics

shopping bags

As a "Hard to Recycle Item", Plastic Bags or Film Plastics DO NOT go into your normal recycling bin for 2 main reasons:

bags

1. They have to be Clean, Dry, and Empty… separate from all other materials to be recycled.

clogging

2. They clog up and sometimes break the sorting equipment, making the process come to a halt to unclog and repair the sorting machines. 

Check out this video from EcoCycle showing how bad the problem can be!

Play Video


Here are options to keep your plastic bags out of the landfill:

charm

CHaRM (Center for Hard to Recycle Materials)

​Accepts various plastic bags and #4(LDPE) plastic films

depositing plastic bags at grocery store

Grocery Stores

Most local grocery stores have a bin near the entrance/exit for depositing plastic shopping bags

Check with your local grocery store to see if they have a collection bin and specifics on what they accept

cu labs

Labs at CU through Green Labs Program

  • Various lab buildings at CU have collection points for specific film plastic
  • Check the linked website for specific locations and accepted materials
distribution center

FM Distribution Center

While this is NOT a public drop off, both the Facilities Management Distribution Center and Housing Maintenance facilities have been recycling shrink wrap from shipments that come to CU

Bales of Shrink Wrap

Bales of Shrink Wrap

Shrink wrap is then baled and shipped to Petosky Plastics, where it is turned into new plastic waste bags that are made from 70% post consumer recycled content!

Petosky Plastics End Product

Petosky Plastics End Product

We buy the bags from Petosky to use in our waste bins across campus to help close the loop!

picking poo

Can't recycled your plastic bag? Give them one more use!

  • If your bags are not accepted in a local recycling system, you can try to use them one more time for things like collecting pet waste
  • Help prevent the use of brand new, virgin bags!

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Environmental Center

CUSG | Division of Student Affairs 
University of Colorado Environmental Center
207 UCB, UMC 355, Boulder, CO 80309-0207 
To contact us please leave a message at 303-492-8308 or email ecenter@colorado.edu
Office Hours Monday - Friday 9:00a-5:00p

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