Find Your Nearest PE Film Recycling Location

US consumers play an indispensable role in plastic recycling, particularly for flexible materials that aren’t curbside recyclable. To give them a hand, the Trex Co. has developed an online, searchable directory that identifies local recycling sites for polyethylene (PE) bags and film.

Trex, which has launched the NexTrex Plastic Recycling Drop-Off Directory, manufactures composite decking and railing using a blend of up to 95% recycled plastic film and reclaimed sawdust. The company is one of North America’s largest PE-film recyclers, repurposing more than 300 million pounds of plastic waste per year.

The company’s primary sources of film include grocers and other retailers that partner with Trex to dispose of shrink wrap, pallet wrap, and other flexible plastics used in operations. More than 10,000 of these stores are also drop-off locations for consumers, offering dedicated NexTrex store drop-off bins for plastic film waste.

Curbside recycling challenges of film

Dedicated recycling streams for PE film are vitally important, as the film is incompatible with the equipment typically used to recycle rigid plastics. PE film gums up this type of equipment, forcing shutdowns to extricate the film.

“Plastic film is a tricky material that cannot be recycled in curbside bins with other recyclable materials, such as paper, cardboard, and glass,” said Stephanie Hicks, materials and recycling programs manager for Trex, in a prepared statement.

“The NexTrex program offers a simple way for people to dispose of flexible plastic waste responsibly and confidently. When you drop off plastic bags and film at a NexTrex recycling location, you know exactly where those materials are going and how they will be used,” she added.

The NexTrex program accepts high-density PE (HDPE, #2) and low-density PE (LDPE, #4) film in numerous formats: grocery and retail bags, sandwich bags, produce bags, case overwrap, plastic wrap on products like paper towels, newspaper sleeves, dry-cleaning film, bubble wrap, and flexible shipping pouches.

Trex’s directory includes all retail locations with NexTrex bins throughout the 50 states and the District of Columbia. New locations will be added as additional retailers join the program.

Consumers can use their city, state, or ZIP Code to search the directory for a local store with a NexTrex bin. For example, a search of San Francisco’s 94112 ZIP Code delivers two pages of search results that include 18 Safeway and two Foods Co. locations.

Additionally, consumers can download a list of participating US locations, with retailers listed by state. Participating retailers include national chains, such as Albertsons and Kohl’s, plus many regional chains, including Meijer in the Midwest, Save Mart in the West, and Winn-Dixie in the Southeast.

Read more about Trex’s film-recycling initiatives at PlasticsToday.