Plastic bags: What to do with them?

Published Feb. 23, 2010
By Ted Theopolos
88th Air Base Wing Public Affairs

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio -- Plastic bags: what do you do with them after you collect so many? You might use them to line small trash cans in the house; others use them for lunch bags or to collect dog droppings during walks. Chances are you still have more than you can use.

About 89 billion plastic bags, sacks and wraps are used each year in the United States according to the American Chemistry Council. The council also said that in 2007, more than 830 million pounds were recycled, which is a 27 percent increase from 2005.

Wright-Patterson Recycling Center is helping those who need to get rid of plastic bags. Three new plastic bag recycling machines have been purchased. One is located at the entrance of the Commissary and another is at the exit of the Base Exchange. Options for the location for the third machine are being discussed.

"These new plastic bag compactors are solar powered," said Pollution Prevention manager Bill Meinerding. "The machines don't need to be in direct sun light to work, they can work inside a building."

According to Mr. Meinerding the plastic bags will be baled and sold to a plastic recycler.

"This is another initiative to recycle plastics," Mr. Meinerding said. "The base recycled more than 40 tons of plastic last year. That included plastics coded one through seven."

According to the ACC plastics are cauterized by plastic resin codes, a numbering system from one through seven . For example, look closely at a plastic bag from the commissary. A number, in this case two, inside the triangle of arrows on the bag tells the recycler that it was made from High Density Polyethylene.

Plastic bags have several advantages. They take less than 4 percent of the water needed to make standard paper bags. Plastic bags are also five times less solid waste than paper bags. Plastics made in the U.S. are made primarily from domestic natural gas instead of imported petroleum.

"The more the base recycles, the more money we receive from the products so we can reduce our dumping costs," said Mr. Meinerding. "But it's just not that. We're keeping plastic out of the local landfill, and it's the right thing to do."

"The Recycling Center made more than $200,000 in revenue last year," said Mr. Meinerding. "That's down from the year before, but if you factor in the disposal cost, the American tax payers saved approximately $250,000."

The next time you go to the Commissary or Base Exchange, take your unused plastic bags to the recycling machine for disposal. It will help the Recycling Center and help save the environment.

To recycle other plastics with the resin code numbered one through seven, go to the Recycling Center located in building 293 underneath the water tower.