Automated Preformed Pouch Filling, Contract Packaging, General, Sustainable Packaging / September 1, 2022
Eagle Flexible Packaging is fully committed to providing sustainable packaging materials for a wide range of food and non-food industries. We have a variety of options when it comes to sustainable packaging such as Recyclable, PCR (Post-Consumer Recycled content), from Renewable sources and compostable films. We also offer traditional packaging materials that are chosen to address and minimize their impact on the environment. While recycling isn’t something new, packaging trends in 2022 and beyond are focused on collecting, separating, and recovering items from the waste stream in a much more efficient manner. Store drop off recycling is the focus of this blog post.
Plastic bags, wraps, and films can’t be recycled in your curbside recycling bins. Store drop off packaging directs shoppers to return their packaging to special in-store collection bins to ensure it gets recycled. Store drop off recycling is great for certain flexible polyethylene (PE) film packaging, such as plastic bags, wraps and pouches. Consumers can take their produce bags, plastic shopping bags, paper towel wraps, some stand up pouches, and more to a local store location for recycling. You’ll know if the packaging is recyclable if it comes with a label that says “Store Drop Off”.
It’s a challenge because a lot of flexible packaging is not recyclable, but more modern materials like high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and low-density polyethylene (LDPE) have made flexible packaging recycling a much more common occurrence. With the tremendous growth of flexible packaging, sustainable packaging materials -used to make them- are becoming more and more popular. Modern recycling is turning away from plastics and toward materials that are starch-based, as well as other sustainable recycling materials such as HDPE, LDPE, and standard polypropylenes. Store drop off is only available to polyethylene flexible packaging and it’s the only recycling option for flexible packaging.
Produce bags, grocery bags, sandwich bags, some cereal bags, and other, similar plastic bags can usually be recycled at a store drop off location. In addition, many stretch type plastic wraps, like the ones that wrap around bottles, diapers, and paper towels, are made with sustainable packaging materials that can be dropped off for recycling. Other items that can be dropped off include air pillows, bread bags, and Ziploc bags. Items that typically cannot be brought to store drop-off recycling include most pet food bags, pre-washed salad bags, candy wrappers, and compostable or biodegradable bags.
There are many retail locations for store drop-off recycling. You can visit bagandfilmrecycling.com and put in your zip code to find the nearest location to you. Most national retailers like Wal-Mart, Target, Kohl’s, and Meijer’s, along with most of the big grocery store chains, have store drop-off recycling bins and signs in their locations. It doesn’t matter where you purchased your items, whether online or at another retail store, you can still bring your flexible packaging to any store drop off recycling location.
Since 1994, Eagle Flexible Packaging has proudly served a wide variety of markets with innovative packaging solutions that meet production and consumption needs. We provide sustainable packaging solutions for food and non-food industries and continue to lead the industry, developing new ways to serve growing challenges. Our team has an ongoing commitment to building relationships with customers and suppliers by listening to their needs and creating new solutions that fit modern requirements. Talk with us about making your next project eco-friendly and sustainable. Contact us today!