How do Plastic Bags get recycled?

Recycling criteria varies from country to country, state to state, and even county to county depending on what local recycling centers are set up to process. In Southern California, plastic bags and plastic films are one of the items that can’t be recycled in your weekly curbside pick-up. However, many grocery stores and retailers have collection points for your used plastic bags. Up until January 1, 2020, this was actually a mandate across the state of California!

What happens to these bags next?

In a best case scenario, plastic bags can be ground up and made into plastic lumber that is used to make park benches, backyard decks and fences – even playground equipment. They also can be recycled into new plastic bags – and then recycled again. (source)
We love these circular uses for plastic bags, but unfortunately only around 10% of the plastic film that’s been created has been recycled, with an increasing amount of the plastic bags that are being collected also ending up in landfills. That means we need to find more uses for these bags, and more ways to collect and process them into new, usable goods…like REFUSION!