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Sonoma County Waste Management Agency

What Would You Like to Recycle?


About plastics

95% recycling rate for plastic bags dropped off at grocery stores.

Plastic bags collected locally at grocery stores have a high recycling rate. A strong market for plastic bags is in the manufacture of wood-plastic composite lumber. This wood-plastic lumber, which is manufactured in the United States, is often used in construction of decking and park benches. Plastic bags collected curbside are recycled into consumer goods in China and the Pacific Rim.

Plastic bags recyclable curbside and at grocery stores

Accepted:
Bags made from polyethylene plastic film (HDPE #2 and LDPE #4)

  • Grocery, produce and bread bags
  • Newspaper bags
  • Retail bags
  • Bubble wrap
  • Dry-cleaning bags
  • Plastic zipper type bags

Not accepted:

  • Bags that are dirty or have moisture
  • CD wrappers or other crunchy plastic
  • Cellophane (such as Saran wrap)
  • Food wrap  (such as cheese wrap)
  • Painted or glued bags
  • Compostable bags
  • No PVC #3 bags

How to prepare:
Remove receipts and food. Stuff clean plastic bags into a clear bag and knot the top.

Image of reusable bag

 

Instead of paper or plastic, bring your own bag.
 
 

New! Leave screw-top lids on empty containers for curbside recycling

Plastic items that can be recycled

Any color plastic is accepted with curbside recycling:

  • Empty plastic containers including milk jugs, soda bottles, shampoo, detergent, party cups, deli trays, tub containers such as yogurt and butter tubs.. Leave screw-top lids on containers. If lids are removed from the container, they must be larger than 4" in diameter. Leave labels on.

    Empty plastic quart-sized motor oil containers are accepted in the blue single-stream recycling cart in all areas of Sonoma County provided the containers have been drained for 48 hours.
  • Rigid plastics including laundry baskets, plastic crates, plastic toys, play equipment, nursery pots, lawn furniture, infant car seats (fabric covers removed) and black irrigation tubing/emitters. These items must fit loosely in your cart.

Do not include: Photos, hoses, PVC pipe, Styrofoam, terra-cotta nursery pots, vinyl siding, Plexiglas and items contaminated with petroleum products such as fuel or tar and plant 6-packs.

To locate mail packaging stores accepting Styrofoam peanuts for reuse, use the  "What would you like to recycle?" search function at the top of this web page. Choose the topic "Styrofoam peanuts."

For plastic bag recycling there are two options:

1. Recycling at grocery stores:
State law AB2449 requires all supermarkets and large retailers with pharmacies to take back and recycle plastic grocery bags. The bill also requires retailers to provide consumers with education about bag reuse. Drop-off plastic bags at outdoor boxes, in store lobbies or customer service centers.

Most grocery and retail stores including CVS/pharmacy, Safeway, Target, Trader Joe's, Raley’s, Rite Aid, Walgreens and Whole Foods accept plastic bags for recycling. Drop-off in store lobbies or at customer service centers.

2. Curbside recycling for plastic bags:
Remove receipts & food from plastic bags. Only clean and dry bags can be recycled.

  • Bag your bags. Stuff clean plastic bags into a clear plastic bag.
  • Knot the top.
  • Place bags in your blue single-stream recycling cart.

For plastic or poly sheeting rolls:

To locate drop-off recycling options for rolls of plastic sheeting or poly sheeting often used on construction projects, use the "What would you like to recycle?" search function at the top of this web page. Choose the topic "Plastic or poly sheeting rolls."

For PVC and HDPE irrigation and plumbing pipe:

HDPE black plastic irrigation pipe, including emitters, can be recycled in the blue single-stream recycling cart provided dirt is removed. Cut pieces to fit in the container. No PVC pipe.

For additional drop-off and pick up recycling options, use the "What would you like to recycle?" search function at the top of this web page. Choose the topic " Irrigation and plumbing pipe."

About Compostable plastics

Compostable plastics sold at stores as garbage bags, clear cups and utensils are considered replacements for conventional plastics. However, disposing of these products is not a good environmental choice. 

These products are not accepted in the curbside yard debris cart or in the blue single-stream recycling cart and must be disposed of in the garbage.

In the blue single-stream recycling cart, compostable plastics bags contaminate plastic bag recycling. In addition, compostable plastic bags are not recyclable at grocery stores offering plastic bag recycling.

In the curbside yard debris cart, some problems with compostable plastics are that they degrade too slowly for the municipal composting program and that they are not allowed in certified organic agriculture products, such as the products produced from municipal yard debris by Sonoma Compost Company.

Compostable products are also not rated for backyard home composting and may not decompose. For additional insight into this topic, view an article (PDF: 2.28 MB) written by Will Bakx, Soils Scientist for Sonoma Compost Company.

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Sonoma County Waste Management Agency ● 2300 County Center Drive, Suite B-100 ● Santa Rosa, CA 95403