Plastic Bags

Bagging your recyclables is unacceptable. All recyclables should be loose in your recycling container. The correct way to dispose of plastic bags is in the trash or, ideally, in a designated collection container.

Why dispose of plastic bags only at Publix or other retail store collection containers?

The reason is simple: Bags placed in a retail store collection container require no sorting!

The opposite is true of plastic bags placed in your curbside recycling container, where sorting is required.


In the sorting process, what happens? Clogged roller equipment (see photo) forces a facility shutdown to remove plastic bags and other pliable material. Workers at a recycling facility (below) are forced to extract dozens of plastic bags from the rollers. 

This task is costly and hazardous; plus the bags are discarded as trash rather than recycled into a new product.