The latest National Post-Consumer Recycled Plastic Bags and Film report for 2008 shows that more plastic bags and film are being recycled than ever before in the United States. This situation is having a knock-on effect in the demand for plastic scrap which is also increasing.
An estimated 378,000 tonnes of post-consumer film, which includes plastic bags and product wraps, were recovered in 2008. this is a 28% increase since 2005 and continues the growing national trend for recycling.
The boost in these figures is being attributed to greater concumer access to collection programmes, mainly in large grocery and retail stores, as well as by the new markets and companies emerging for processing the recycled materials.
The recycling report was conducted by Moore Recycling Associates, Inc. of Sonoma, California, based on information obtained from 79 domestic processors, end-users of film material and exporters. The recycling numbers reported likely understate actual bag and film recycling because export data is more difficult to obtain than data on domestic recycling, and in 2008 there was a shift toward export markets, according to the report. Data collection also was affected by the rapid spike in the number of collection programs as many stores launched new programs to recover post-consumer plastic bags and product wraps from their customers. There are now retail store collection programs in all 50 states.
According to US Environmental Protection Agency data, about 13 per cent of plastic bags and film are recycled annually. While composite lumber continues to be the major market for recycled plastic bags and film, 2008 saw a notable increase in international demand for scrap plastic film.
The full report, 2008 National Postconsumer Recycled Plastic Bag and Film Report (0.5 MB) is available here
