Busting Down Myths About Grocery Store Recycling

People fear what they don’t know, and one thing a lot of people don’t know is what happens to plastic bags when they get returned to the source at recycling bins outside your local grocery. Do they really live up to their promise of taking them to be recycled, or is the environment better off with you cautiously hoarding them under your sink? The fine folks over at Blue Ridge News would like to lay your fears to rest with today’s article, explaining what exactly happens once those bags leave your concerned hands.

Volunteers questioned the store managers regarding their process – from the bins they provide for recycling to the end-use of the recycled bags. Several members inquired at their favorite Ingles stores. They found that all of the stores’ returned plastic bags go to the central warehouse in Black Mountain. The material is consistently sold to two different companies, Mountain Valley Recycling in Morristown, Tenn., and Trex Lumber Co. in Winchester, Va.

Used bags and plastic pallet-wrap are mixed together in large bails. A truckload of used plastic consists of 40 bails, and approximately two truckloads a month are sold for recycling.

At Mountain Valley Recycling the bags are processed into pellets and sold to various companies that make plastic tubs, parking lot car-stops and ladders. At Trex the plastic bags are melted down and mixed with wood chips to make lumber for decks, docks and park benches.

They don’t stop there, instead questioning several major grocery chains on their recycling habits and in turn reassuring concerned shoppers that there’s no need to worry disproportionately about the environmental impact of dropping plastic bags off at the drop points. Of course, reusable bags are better when it comes to doing your shopping, but when the odd plastic bag can’t be avoided, recycling is always better than nothing at all.

Monday, November 10th, 2008 at 12:00 pm and is filed under The Daily. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.