One of the biggest myths circulating around the plastic bag debate is that plastic bags are not recyclable. This is simply NOT true. Plastic bags are difficult to recycle because consumers are not aware of how to recycle them. As a result, many waste haulers refuse to accept plastic bags via curbside recycling. This article is about the viability of using these collected plastics in the bags we sell.
Post Consumer Recycled Plastics are referred to as PCR. Depending on the sources of PCR, bag manufacturers have the ability to add PCR content to bags during production. In the early 1990's resin companies actually collected PCR and integrated it into the resin manufacturing process to offer extruders (a pre-mixed Virgin-PCR pellet). Lack of demand, falling resin prices, and consistency issues, made the PCR market for film and bags challenging. Ultimately resin companies stopped offering these products.
Today the market and infrastructure is far more mature and sophisticated with many local recyclers of plastic products. Supply, while not plentiful, is adequate for most applications. Products such as plastic trash bags, agriculture film, construction film, pails and containers have used PCR for many years. For the burgeoning plastic lumber market, clean PCR material, particularly bags are a very sought after raw material. It was reported by one manufacturer of plastic lumber that their demand for PCR was as much as 300 million pounds per year. Since the grocery sack market reported to have used 1 billion pounds annually, if a 30% recycling rate were to occur, there would be adequate demand for this product.
Plus Packaging offers bags made with 25% PCR content. The main source of our PCR material comes from pallet stretch film and other industrial materials that utilize quality resins. Because they are clear and are not printed, they do not distort the color or feel of the bags. We also utilize our own in-house (post-industrial) scrap - which means that at times our bags are produced with as much as 40% recycled content. However, the only element that really matters for the environment is the PCR content.
Two factors are important when purchasing bags allegedly made with PCR:
Verify PCR content as opposed to post-industrial content to ensure that the material is actually being diverted from the landfills.
Ask manufacturers to certify the exact content of PCR materials in their bags.
When new products enter the market there is often confusion and misleading information. Claims of "UP to 50% PCR content" are meaningless because it could be zero or 5%. Using ambiguous terms like "recycled material" or "industrial waste" also send mixed signals about the true content and environmental benefit.
There is a supply of PCR material that allows manufacturers to produce bags with minimal distortion of bag color and print quality. As the market matures the supply of these materials may increase. It is also likely that there will be a demand for bags that have slightly distorted colors that visually express recycled content. For early adopters, Plus can offer the added benefit of not having to deal with these issues - that may not be viable over the long run.
If the market agrees to use PCR content in their bags, two positive things occur:
As the demand for PCR plastic grows, the ability to sell the collected PCR improves. It also creates a market for the product that demonstrates the recyclability of plastic bags.
