Plastic Bags Do Not Belong in Recycling Carts

Published:

Help protect our employees and equipment

Say NO to plastic bags

Kimble operates a single-stream recycling line in Twinsburg, Ohio. There are many benefits to a single stream system. Customers can place all recyclables in their Kimble recycling cart without having to sort or separate by material (plastics, cardboard, aluminum etc.).

While this makes recycling easy for our customers, it also opens our facility to risks when non-recyclable items make their way into the recycling stream. One of the largest threats to our Kimble recycling facility is plastic bags. 

Here’s why it’s so important to keep plastic bags out of recycling carts.

Plastic bags are dangerous for our employees.

Protecting our employees is our No. 1 priority. Our line sorters act as gate keepers and work tirelessly to protect the recycling line from contaminates such as plastic bags. Plastic bags can conceal dangerous items, such as broken glass, sharp metal and even flammable materials.

Plastic bags are dangerous for our equipment.

Plastic bags work their way through the facility – catching, wrapping and clogging our sorting machines. This can shut down our recycling line and stop production completely. Our employees have to cut plastic bags from affected equipment so that production can start again.

Plastic bags contaminate the paper bale.

Plastic bags can simply contaminate the paper bales produced at our recycling facility. If our line sorters do not catch the plastic bags, they can become wrapped in our equipment and slip into the paper bales. This contaminates the bales. Due to the new standards on contamination, we need to prevent as many non-approved items from slipping into the bales as possible.

Help us keep plastic bags out of the recycling.

The solution to the problem of plastic bags in the recycling facility is simple.  Please follow the instructions below when using your recycling cart:

  • Place your loose recyclables in your Kimble recycling cart; never use a plastic bag.
  • Cut back on the use of plastic bags by keeping cloth/reusable bags in your vehicle.
  • Consider using a recycling program specifically for clean, dry plastic bags. Your local grocery store may have that type of program.

We want to keep our employees safe and our recycling line moving. Please place your loose recyclables in your Kimble recycling carts, and do not place any plastic bags in your recycling.  

For more information on how you can recycle right with Kimble, check out our recycling guide.