Can carrier bags be recycled?
Carrier Bags are often associated with the ‘Plastic Bag’, and in the UK, you cannot recycle a plastic carrier bag at home. You can, however, take a plastic bag to a designated recycling point, typically found at your local supermarket, to be recycled.
UK recycling collection point.
When it comes to recyclability, across all material types, it’s typically a more nuanced and complex story. Paper carrier bags can be recycled, and recycled at home too, as long as they have no plastic lamination. Paper bags can also be composted.
Fabric carrier bags, made from cotton and canvas, can be considered textiles and are therefore not recyclable at home. They are, however, also able to be taken to designated recycling points. Completely natural cotton bags and jute bags are considered biodegradable and can instead be composted.
Luxury gift bags can be recycled if made from just paper, but any additional features or lamination make them unrecyclable. Fabric handles, eyelets, and any other additional elements also need to be removed before recycling.
Can you recycle printed carrier bags?
In most cases, printed carrier bags can be recycled in some way or another. The addition of a print to a carrier bag typically does not affect the recyclability of the bag. When composting a paper or natural fabric bag, ink from a print may affect the eco-friendliness of the composting process.
Can you recycle plastic carrier bags?
Most plastic carrier bags are recyclable but cannot be recycled at home in your recycling waste bin. Plastic carrier bags come in all sorts of shapes, sizes and thicknesses, and all of them can be recycled by taking them to a local recycling point.
Given that these bags are recyclable, it’s alarming that estimates on the actual recycling rate of plastic bags worldwide is between 1% and 7%. This is alongside a broader estimation that of all plastic packaging waste produced, less than 10% is recycled.
This presents a wider discussion around the simplicity of recycling plastic carrier bags, and being able to dispose of a wider array of plastic packaging waste in home recycling bins. In the UK, just 45% of plastic packaging waste is recycled despite 73% of it being recyclable.
Can you recycle paper carrier bags?
You can recycle paper carrier bags, printed or unprinted, in your home recycling bin. Paper bags that contain a plastic lamination layer, however, cannot be recycled and should be disposed of in your general waste bin.
In the UK, we recycle around 80% of our paper waste, though there is no specific data on the percentage of paper bags that are recycled. Typically, paper products are more widely recycled. Their recyclable nature and simplicity make them a go-to choice for brands looking for eco-friendly packaging, especially carrier bags.
Though paper carrier bags are easier to, and more widely recycled than other bag materials, weighing up the eco-friendliness of a bag is more than just evaluating its disposal. What makes a truly eco-friendly carrier bag is much more than how you throw it away.
Can you recycle fabric carrier bags?
Most fabric carrier bags are recyclable; however, you cannot recycle fabric carrier bags in your home recycling bin. Bags made from cotton, canvas or jute are all textiles, meaning they can be recycled in textile recycling bins at local recycling points. Some fabric bags are biodegradable, and this is usually labelled, meaning you may be able to dispose of them on your compost heap.
Generally, textile recycling across the globe is quite low, with estimates being as low as 12%. Fabric bags are built to be reusable, and as such, should only be disposed of at the end of their life. Schemes like the traditional ‘bag-for-life’ create a closed-loop system for recycling fabric bags.
With fabric bags produced as freebies and branded paraphernalia, many of these bags end up in cupboards and wardrobes, never to be used. Taking these to a designated recycling point is a great way to reduce the impact of their production, versus disposing of them in a general waste bin.
Should I recycle my carrier bags?
Recycling your carrier bags, when possible, is a great way to minimise the impact that carrier bag disposal has on the environment. Whether you can recycle your bag at home, like with a paper bag, or at a recycling point, like with a plastic or fabric bag, you’re enabling that material to be reused for another purpose. This is significantly superior to disposing of a carrier bag in a general waste bin, where it will likely end up in a landfill or be incinerated.
How can retailers encourage better bag disposal practices?
Retailers have a responsibility to limit the number of single-use bags being given to customers. Similarly, the UK government also needs to make it easier for consumers to recycle carrier bags that are made from recycled materials.
When consumers recycle something that can be recycled, that’s great! When consumers dispose of something that cannot be recycled, it’s a problem, but not a systemic problem. When consumers improperly dispose of something that can be recycled, however, that becomes a systemic problem. Fixing this is complex, but there are simple points that need to be addressed:
- Government policy, schemes and processes to better enable the recycling of waste that can be recycled.
- Retailers & merchants providing bags that are, across all considerations, eco-friendly.
- Government schemes and legislation to tackle consumer habits and behaviours that fuel the need for single-use bags.
Part of the wider issue is the focus on plastic, not appreciating that many of the alternatives are just as destructive and problematic, if not more so. Plastic carrier bags should be one of the most eco-friendly choices, if the behaviour and habits of consumers and merchants shifted in the right direction.
Plastic recycling at home
The UK's home plastic recycling initiative is called the 'Deposit Return Scheme' and is due to launch in 2027. The first town to roll out home plastic recycling is Maldon, in Essex. Residents of Maldon will have their recycling bin marked with a sticker to make them aware that they can recycle many plastics by placing them in pink recycling bags inside of their bin. The plastics they can recycle, includes:
- Fruit and vegetable net bags
- Bubble wrap and cling film.
- Removable film lids and plastic sleeves from bottles and jars.
- Detergent and cleaning pouches.
- Multipack wrapping, toilet and kitchen roll wrapping, and magazine and newspaper wrapping.
- Cheese, fish, and meat wrapping.
- Crisp packets, snack packets, and coffee bags.
- Chocolate, sweets, biscuits, cakes, ice cream, and chewing gum wrappers.
- Carrier bags, salad/fruit/vegetable bags, frozen food bags, bread bags, cereal bags, and flower bags.
With residents on board, and a small but impactful roll-out in play, Maldon is a microcosmic example of how the UK's Deposit Return Scheme will play out. With items such as plastic carrier bags able to be recycled at home, there is an expectation that the amount of unrecycled plastic waste in the UK should decrease.
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