Plastic Bag Facts

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  • Plastic bags are made of #2 (high-density polyethylene, HDPE) or #4 (low-density polyethylene, LDPE), both of which are 100% recyclable through the “Bag-2-Bag” program Smith’s participates in.
  • Smith’s also recycles its own cardboard and other waste, thus not impacting the County’s solid waste system.
  • 90% of plastic shopping bags are reused in households.  The most common reuse is to line trash cans, and to dispose of pet waste.  But they are also used to carry food, wet and soiled clothing, and in crafts.
  • Recycling efforts are on the rise and increase every year. From 2006 to 2011 recovery of HDPE and LDPE increased 55%.  As time passes public awareness of recycling has grown, in addition to this, access to recycling facilities is becoming more widespread and available to individuals and municipalities.  Los Alamos County has a dynamic recycling program in place and is proactive in improving its efforts in recycling.
  • Plastic bags make up less than .5% of the municipal waste stream in this country.  Look around your house and note all of the things that go into your trash can – both the green barrel and the blue barrel.  A plastic shopping bag is one of the smallest things in the there. 
  • Bans really do not solve the issue of litter, or reduce what goes into a landfill.  Again, look around your house and take an inventory of what you are throwing away.  Plastic bags are not the problem.  Banning them is a “feel good fix” with little impact on the real issue of how to reuse and recycle plastics.
  • Where bans are in place the use of alternative plastic bags rises.  People buy their own trash can liners and pet waste bags to replace the plastic bags they no longer get from the store.  These replacement bags are heavier weight plastic and will end up in a landfill.  It’s better to reuse the lighter weight bags from the store, and recycle them when they no longer are needed.
  • Plastic bags are more sanitary and help to prevent the spread of food borne illness.  Unless you are washing your cloth bags after each use, you run the risk of cross contamination from things like salmonella and E.coli.  If you leave your bags in the car, as most people do, these bacteria grow even faster, and will make people even sicker.  In cities where bag bans are in place there has been an increase in the reported cases of food borne illness, especially among grocery store employees. 
  • Most reusable bags are not recyclable either.  The bags sold at Smith’s are #5 non-woven polypropylene (NWPP) bags, with a waxy coating.  These bags are still plastic and cannot be recycled.