The Newsmagazine of Long Beach Island and Southern Ocean County

By Juliet Kaszas-Hoch | on July 21, 2022

Ocean County’s Department of Solid Waste Management regularly reminds area residents and vacationers that plastic bags, wrap and film cannot be placed in curbside recycling, as these materials hamper single-stream sorting efficiency, and can damage the processing equipment. The machinery at the county’s recycling center in Lakewood jams consistently because of bags and other unacceptable plastics mixed in with the recyclables.

County Commissioner Gary Quinn, liaison to the county’s recycling program, pointed out, “Plastic bags have created extensive problems at our processing facility. Recyclables should not be placed in plastic bags, nor should the plastic bags be tossed into recycling bins. In terms of contamination, plastic bags getting into the recycling stream is certainly the biggest problem area where help from our residents can make an immediate difference.”

So where does one take these many types of plastic: single-use grocery and produce bags; product wrap on cases of water and soda bottles; zip-top food storage bags, such as Ziplocs; product overwrap from paper towels and toilet paper; newspaper bags; bread bags; dry cleaning bags; cereal box liners (except if they tear like paper); plastic shipping envelopes (with labels removed), bubble wrap and air pillows (deflated); and any other packaging or bag with the How2Recycle label?

Fortunately, some local stores do collect these items, although the number of establishments with collection bins has decreased since both the pandemic and the statewide single-use plastic bag ban.

The website bagandfilmrecycling.org allows users to enter a ZIP Code to generate a list of retailers nearby that have a plastic bag, film and wrap drop-off. However, the list for the greater Long Beach Island area is not quite up to date.

Locations that do still have collection bins include: Acme, at 609 East Bay Ave. in Manahawkin; Kohl’s, at 205 Route 72 West in Manahawkin; and Target, at 209 Stafford Park Blvd. in Manahawkin.

The ShopRite at 295 Route 72 in Manahawkin used to have a bin, but it was recently removed. Similarly, the LBI Acme, at 9700 Long Beach Blvd. in Beach Haven Park, is no longer a collection site.

Certain plastic items are not acceptable at these drop-offs. These include biodegradable or compostable bags, pre-washed salad mix bags, candy wrappers and most pet food bags. Items that are accepted, meanwhile, should be clean and dry – no crumbs, food residue or liquid inside them.

As noted on how2recycle.info/sdo, some of the bags, wraps and films may “get recycled into synthetic lumber for decking or park benches, or they might be recycled directly into another bag.” According to Ocean County, a few schools have even collected plastic film for the Trex Plastic Film Recycling Challenge, for which Trex donates a composite bench to the school that amasses the most film.

“Store drop-off programs have been the primary means of recovering clean and dry bags, film and wrap for more than 20 years,” bagandfilmrecycling.org explains. “We encourage you to let your local stores know that you appreciate the recycling service they are providing or to remind them that having a bin for bags and film is important to customers like you.”  —J.K.-H.

You must be logged in to post a comment.

The SandPaper 1816 Long Beach Boulevard, Surf City, NJ 08008-5461 Phone Number: (609) 494-5900 • Fax Number: (609) 494-1437

Our Hometown DMCA Notices Newspaper web site content management software and services