Recycling plastic bags

[Eigon]

I'm involved in the campaign to make our town into a Fairtrade town.
What does this have to do with recycling plastic bags, you may ask?
Well, Fairtrade seems to be tangled up in people's minds with recycling, and organic food, so the question came to us - wouldn't it be a good idea to have a place where people can bring their surplus plastic bags for recycling? Everyone has too many of them stacking up in their kitchens, after all.
We agree - it's a great idea, but where do we go to find out how to get an official looking bin to put them in? We even have an offer of somewhere to put it if we can find one, and there are shops here that would re-use them gladly.

So, does anyone here know about recycling plastic bags? Has anyone done it?

[Wormella]

I know most of the supermarkets here have plastic bag recycling.

[Thomzo]

Why not just ask the council for a wheelie bin to start with? If it gets outgrown you can look into a more permanent structure.

Zoe

[Eigon]

That's a possibility - thanks.

[red]

wouldn't it be best to encourage people to use the bags to death first?

[Eigon]

Yes, it would be better to get people to re-use the bags themselves, but there is a slight ulterior motive - the shops that want to use recycled plastic bags so they don't have to buy new ones.

[ina]

the shops that want to use recycled plastic bags so they don't have to buy new ones.

What exactly do you mean here: the shops want to re-use the bags that are collected, or they want to use bags that have been made new from old bags?

The first is, I am sure, not feasible: they could be returned dirty and would therefore fall foul of all sorts of hygiene legislation... The second I find almost as bad as using bags from "all new" plastic. They still use a lot of energy in the production (and probably some new material - bleach, new colour for the print).

In my mind, the only way to go is to ban them altogether - or rather to make sure they are so expensive to buy that folk will easily convert to truly reusable ones. My oldest cloth bags are at least 10 years old and still going strong - and in the end they will compost properly (and there's a good chance they will have had a second life as a rag for cleaning before that). And, of course, very nice bags can be made from old clothes etc. - they could, for example, be produced by some charitable organisations and then sold by the shops that are now keen on recycling plastic bags.

[Clara]

I´ve seen other stores bags reused in health food and charity shops, and I always prefer to do that if they are available. I´v never received a dirty one so I don´t think it would be a problem - afterall most plastic bags given out in supermarkets contain other items wrapped in plastic!

I agree that reusable cotton bags would be better, but think the reusing plastic bag scheme is a practical answer to reality. Perhaps you could have some fairtrade organic cotton reusable bags made up and printed to promote your cause too - you may even be able to get funding from the council, who always want to reduce landfill, to enable you to hand out the bags for free or at least subsidise the cost.

Good to hear of someone making a difference, good luck.

[ina]

I´ve seen other stores bags reused in health food and charity shops, and I always prefer to do that if they are available. I´v never received a dirty one so I don´t think it would be a problem - afterall most plastic bags given out in supermarkets contain other items wrapped in plastic!

I don't see it as a problem, either - but you know what legislators are like: as long as everything is low key, and nobody complains, it's fine. However, once it goes "big", and more people do it and shout about it, they'll look into the problems that might arise, even before they have arisen... And I know what people are like. Let the wrong person find a dirty bag in the bin and complain to the authorities, that would bring the entire scheme down - and probably ruin it for charity shops, too. (Sorry, but I am involved a bit in health and safety issues at work - that taints my outlook on life!)

[Peggy Sue]

I've been a bit caught out by the 'carry-a bag' / re-use bags/ don't get new bags. I threw my self into this not realising how many things I DID re-use bags for.

I use them to freeze food in, in portions, (after which if it's meat I really have to throw them) for collecting blackberries ( which is sticky but I do rinse them and use again weather permitting), bringing stuff back from the allotment- and yes the bag I used about 30 times before split when it was full of spuds yesterday!!

And now I'm almost out of bags so I really have to think about what else I can use

I've always had a thing about not buying plastic tupperware type boxes- how can this be better than plastic bags? (except they don't break on you!)

I do need something I can carry at the same time as leading the dog so a big wooden box is out...

Suggestions welcome

[Stonehead]

I've been a bit caught out by the 'carry-a bag' / re-use bags/ don't get new bags. I threw my self into this not realising how many things I DID re-use bags for.

I use them to freeze food in, in portions, (after which if it's meat I really have to throw them) for collecting blackberries ( which is sticky but I do rinse them and use again weather permitting), bringing stuff back from the allotment- and yes the bag I used about 30 times before split when it was full of spuds yesterday!!

And now I'm almost out of bags so I really have to think about what else I can use

I know what you mean. We keep old, split wellies going by sticking our feet in carrier bags and then putting the wellies on. Dead poultry going for autopsy has to be double-bagged (carrier bags again); nettle picking is much easier with carrier bags instead of net bags or baskets; waterproofing the contents of a rucksack is easy with a couple of carrier bags and so on. I've even used them as waterproof membranes on chicken houses and the like.

Some of our stock of carrier bags are on their 10th or more use, but the supply is gradually running out.

[ina]

I do need something I can carry at the same time as leading the dog so a big wooden box is out...

Suggestions welcome

Buckets? I have a range - all free - either from sheep licks, or from a friend who works for a food processor... Catering staff will also have access to loads of buckets (jam, soup and gravy powder - it all comes in very handy buckets and containers, perfectly food safe, too).

And I still have more plastic bags than I'll ever need, just with what comes in from folk who bring me stuff, or with goods that you can't buy any other way. Loo rolls come in plastic bags, too - OK, they don't always have handles...

[Peggy Sue]

True I have lots of these from horsey supplements (and it winds me up I try not to buy human food in plastic but seem to have no choice with my horse!).

Mind you I do sneak a few plums from the farm which I can whip a plastic bag out for and it does look a bit naughty if I carry a bucket up to the tree!

Should solve this, planting my own tree this year!

[red]

Yes, it would be better to get people to re-use the bags themselves, but there is a slight ulterior motive - the shops that want to use recycled plastic bags so they don't have to buy new ones.

I would think the best then would be to encourage the shops to sell fairtrade cloth bags. - if co-op can and oxfam can, and not very expensive.. then it must be doable

[Eigon]

At least one of the shops here sells bags that are made from re-used newspapers from India.
I live in Hay-on-Wye, the town of second-hand books, so hygiene is not an issue - no food will be involved. And you don't go into second hand book dealing to make pots of money, so any way to reduce the overheads is welcome! Yes, selling cotton bags would be feasible, but that still means the shop is buying bags - and some of them want to reduce this cost to the minimum.
And there is this huge resource out there of plastic bags which have been used once to bring shopping home from the supermarket, and which is now threatening to take over a corner of the kitchen unless the owner finds something to do with them!

Absolutely, the way forward is to dissuade people from using so many plastic bags in the first place, but in the meantime it would be nice to be able to use them again.