Report shows most plastic bags dropped off for recycling get trashed

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WhatInThe

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An investigative report showed that plastic bags placed in bins for recycling get trashed more than recycled. They put trackers in with their plastic bags which usually didn't wind up at a recycling facility. Also found out there are only a handful of facilities in the US that can do it.

https://news.yahoo.com/channel-2-action-news-investigates-214439719.html

I already heard the stories about 50% of municipal trash getting recycled but it's the private businesses/stores that I find the most frustrating because they have to know the bags in those bins don't get recycled and that's deceptive advertising. I gave up on plastic bag recycling years ago after seeing parking lot employees put trash in the recycling containers because if nothing else dirty loads don't get recycled.

If people wouldn't litter plastic bags wouldn't be the issue they are in many cities
 

We can buy Biodegradable bags in the supermarket.. they range from 30p to £2.00 depending where you buy one. I take my own bags... however I absolutely can imagine that the report is correct because I watched a TV show which showed that much of our recycle rubbish is sent to other countries like India and China, and is just sent along with normal household trash.. not separated at all..

..and another thing I always wonder is for those of us who live in houses where we have several trash bins.. 2 recycling, and one general rubbish, and one for papers and magazines.. 4 in all.. and we're diligently recycling. ..into the relevant bins... why then are people who lives in High rise apartments ( UK ).. only got one chute to empty their rubbish into.. which all goes into Huge communal bins .. no recycling there at all.. so none of it makes sense to me..
 

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WhatInThe said:
An investigative report showed that plastic bags placed in bins for recycling get trashed more than recycled. They put trackers in with their plastic bags which usually didn't wind up at a recycling facility. Also found out there are only a handful of facilities in the US that can do it.

https://news.yahoo.com/channel-2-action-news-investigates-214439719.html

I already heard the stories about 50% of municipal trash getting recycled but it's the private businesses/stores that I find the most frustrating because they have to know the bags in those bins don't get recycled and that's deceptive advertising. I gave up on plastic bag recycling years ago after seeing parking lot employees put trash in the recycling containers because if nothing else dirty loads don't get recycled.

If people wouldn't litter plastic bags wouldn't be the issue they are in many cities
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That has been the case for decades i worked for a major retailer that had bins to Recycle but they really through down the trash chute.....to me that is just virtue signaling.....

It is an issue that customers believe and then think the stores/ corporations are doing something good......

If the reality of what REALLY gets recycled was shown it would be a huge eyeopener for MANY people.
 
It's always about the money. It's a sad reality that I have heard.

I really like using the cloth bags I sew myself. They can be washed and I have one that's over 15 years old and it's still going. I've posted my bags here before.
 
A couple of big box stores used to collect plastic bags and then they gave them to charity stores that depended upon them for bag donation. Now there are few stores to find bags.
 
What a shock, right? I patronize a store that still gives plastic bags and I love that because they're so light weight that for some things, they're just better. I have a lot of cloth bags purchased at the supermarket for grocery shopping and keep a bunch of them in the trunk of the car.
 
When I go to the grocery store, i'm given plastic bags at the self-serve checkout at different local chains.

When I have groceries delivered from Whole Foods (Amazon Prime) online, they are always delivered in heavy paper bags.
 
WhatInThe said:
What could do instead of saying they're recycled is leave them in a container and put a sign for dog walkers because they must use 50-60 plastic bags a month
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Sounds like a good idea, but most plastic food bags aren't really good for dog waste.
I prefer to buy heavy-duty plastic bags, w/handles that smell pretty 😁 for that.
 
hollydolly said:
All grocery deliveries from Amazon here.. are delivered in big paper bags
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I find it funny that when i was young most all were paper bags ...... then the line i heard used to switch to plastic .........was the paper ones not Only cost more......... but the paper process in making them was bad for the environment.

Like everything these days ......the results never seen to match ....
plastic bags everywhere (litter) etc and now i guess reverting to the paper will at least disintegrate. but how the paper was produced has not changed ? ...
so many things these days seem to make little sense .....
when I spoke to others about this they often want to change the " oh no that is not why the switch etc. " paper bags need to be held from bottom if weight is in will rip etc often no handles ......is their take. So convenience over long term effects.

So many things seem to be a contradiction....

the 8 cent bags many stores in my area replace are a thicker plastic that officials say you can reuse but for most of items i used to use the thin ones like bathroom garbage liner the thicker does not work.

Now stores want away from the thick ones because cost........... but still $$ out door as some have employee receipt check at doors .........because so many just carry items out without paying 8 cents a bag.
many in retail has always felt ( we were asked to watch those with bags in cart) when SOME have their own bags things seem to be walking out.
makes me think of old west tv/ movies where folks had a basket or box and gave the list to shopkeeper to fill. lol
 
I go with the large chip boxes for my Aldi dry-good groceries and several large coolers with ice blocks for my cold or frozen groceries.

Our recycling center does not recycle plastic bags - they have to go in with the regular garbage.
 
jet said:
i just put stuff in the trolly,take it to the car,and put it in the boot,,no bags needed
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That's how half my stuff gets carted to the car. I have a couple of cloth bags ( alos got a string bag)... and I have an insulated trolley on wheels which I keep in the boot..
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so I do as you do, put everything in the trolley unbagged, take it to the car and out all the chill and frozen stuff into the trolley, and everything else into the bags.. that said.. sometimes I only use a basket in store, so I need to occasionally buy a carrier bag if I've forgotten to take one in with me..that irritates me ...

@Jeni yes I know the paper bags you used way back in the day..we in the UK were always fascinated by those that you Americans could possibly carry all your shopping in those when we saw them on an American sitcom.. because even back in the 60's and 70's we had carrier bags of some type... Nowadays all carrier bags here are biodegradable.. but the Paper bags..which some stores use have handles , and the big paper bags which Amazon delivers food are very thick.. and instead of being held at the bottom, they are easily held using the thick folded tops..
clarksburg-md-usa-05122021-three-260nw-1972700870.jpg
 
hollydolly said:
We can buy Biodegradable bags in the supermarket.. they range from 30p to £2.00 depending where you buy one. I take my own bags... however I absolutely can imagine that the report is correct because I watched a TV show which showed that much of our recycle rubbish is sent to other countries like India and China, and is just sent along with normal household trash.. not separated at all..

..and another thing I always wonder is for those of us who live in houses where we have several trash bins.. 2 recycling, and one general rubbish, and one for papers and magazines.. 4 in all.. and we're diligently recycling. ..into the relevant bins... why then are people who lives in High rise apartments ( UK ).. only got one chute to empty their rubbish into.. which all goes into Huge communal bins .. no recycling there at all.. so none of it makes sense to me..
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We separate all our recyclables and bring them to a recycle center along with our trash.
Most of our neighbors pay for trash pickup and it all goes together. No recycling.
I am much better at bringing my own bags. I used to take my plastic bags to one of those recycle bins at the store. I figured they got thrown out.
 
One store I go to still offers a choice of paper bags. I get them sometimes to have for certain things.
When we visited Hilton Head Island Wal-Mart and Harris Teeter gave nice big strong plastic bags. The idea was to encourage you to bring them back and reuse them. Well vacationers aren't coming back soon. I do reuse them though for car trash bags and such.
 
hearlady said:
One store I go to still offers a choice of paper bags. I get them sometimes to have for certain things.
When we visited Hilton Head Island Wal-Mart and Harris Teeter gave nice big strong plastic bags. The idea was to encourage you to bring them back and reuse them. Well vacationers aren't coming back soon. I do reuse them though for car trash bags and such.
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Do you have Bags for life there ?.. Ever store here has a bag for life scheme.. the prices vary..they're essentially biodegradable thick plastic bags..9 thicker than single use)..or from woven synthetic fibres... , The idea is that you buy one of these bags which are usually about £1 or £2... ( about double the average price of a normal carrier bag ) and if it breaks or is worn out somehow, you can return it and get another bag for free.

I've never known anyone do this , but I'm sure some people must.. I never have tho'
 
hollydolly said:
Do you have Bags for life there ?.. Ever store here has a bag for life scheme.. the prices vary..they're essentially biodegradable thick plastic bags..9 thicker than single use)..or from woven synthetic fibres... , The idea is that you buy one of these bags which are usually about £1 or £2... ( about double the average price of a normal carrier bag ) and if it breaks or is worn out somehow, you can return it and get another bag for free.

I've never known anyone do this , but I'm sure some people must.. I never have tho'
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I've never heard of it but if sounds like a good idea.
 
hollydolly said:
yes the whole ethos as you can imagine sis to save on buying bag after bag.. so people essentially keep them in the boot of their cars and use them over and over..
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I've got a nice small insulated cooler I carry. It doesn't have wheels like yours but is similar. I also carry two nice reusable bags. They have handles and are thick plastic. They were Christmas ones but I like the green and pine bow theme all year long. 🌲
 
hollydolly said:
We can buy Biodegradable bags in the supermarket.. they range from 30p to £2.00 depending where you buy one. I take my own bags... however I absolutely can imagine that the report is correct because I watched a TV show which showed that much of our recycle rubbish is sent to other countries like India and China, and is just sent along with normal household trash.. not separated at all..

..and another thing I always wonder is for those of us who live in houses where we have several trash bins.. 2 recycling, and one general rubbish, and one for papers and magazines.. 4 in all.. and we're diligently recycling. ..into the relevant bins... why then are people who lives in High rise apartments ( UK ).. only got one chute to empty their rubbish into.. which all goes into Huge communal bins .. no recycling there at all.. so none of it makes sense to me..
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In our condo, there is a recycle room. Everyone has large recycle blue bags for tins & plastics .. a second bag
for paper. Also, we recycle plastic bags. Food waste goes in the green bin. Anything that isn't recyclable
goes down the garbage chute.

Not all apartment bldgs/condos have the recycle system that we do.
 
Pinky said:
In our condo, there is a recycle room. Everyone has large recycle blue bags for tins & plastics .. a second bag
for paper. Also, we recycle plastic bags. Food waste goes in the green bin. Anything that isn't recyclable
goes down the garbage chute.

Not all apartment bldgs/condos have the recycle system that we do.
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no..and I know for certain most don't here either. ..and the one I was talking about specifically earlier.. is a brand new luxury block.. yet no separate recycling facilities
 
jet said:
i just put stuff in the trolly,take it to the car,and put it in the boot,,no bags needed
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And this is a good idea. Or boxes. They make baskets also.

I also like to bag my own groceries because I want to bag things light. I've had 4 bags at the store and the bagger will put all the items in 2. No I brought 4 bags for a reason.
 

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