THE BASICS OF RECYCLING PLASTICS
The basic concept of recycling is easy to grasp: take something that would otherwise be trash and give it a new life as a different product. What can get tricky are recycling rules; especially when it comes to plastics.
Plastic is everywhere! Just as there are more plastics on the market than ever before, there are also more recycling options for them.
Here are the basics of recycling plastics in Hendricks County:
- Plastic bottles, tubs and jars that come from your kitchen or bathroom can be recycled in your curbside recycling bin or at one of the District’s Recycling Drop-off Centers
- Polystyrene (Styrofoam) is not recyclable in any of the Hendricks County programs.
- Large plastic items like kids’ toys, lawn furniture or large containers cannot be recycled; reuse, however, may be an option…
- Plastic film, like plastic shopping bags or wrappers is accepted in the curbside recycling program offered by Republic Services, but is not currently accepted in Ray’s curbside recycling program or at the District’s Recycling Drop-off Centers. These plastic films are also accepted locally at Walmart, Target, JCPenney, Kroger & Lowe’s stores (look for recycling bins near the front of the stores). The plastic film accepted include:
- Case Wrap (water bottle or sport drink shrink wrap)
- Newspaper Bags
- Napkin, Paper Towel, Toilet Tissue & Diaper Wrap
- Dry Cleaning Bags
- Bread Bags
- Produce Bags
- Furniture & Electronic Wrap
- Zip Close Food Storage Bags
- Plastic Cereal Box Liners
- Plastic Shipping Envelopes, including Tyvek, bubble wrap and air pillows (remove labels and/or deflate)
