How do I recycle multi-layer plastic packaging?
Have you ever held a thick, crinkly plastic bag with a “7” recycling number on it, or more confusingly, no number at all? Alternately, have you ever bought rice, nuts, dried fruit, or chips from a grocery store? In either case, chances are you have held a multi-layer plastic (MLP) package. Yet despite being very common, MLP packaging is remarkably hard to recycle. In fact, one of the reasons you may not have heard the name “multi-layer plastic” is that you’ve likely only ever heard of it referred to as trash. So what’s the deal with this plastic, and what can we do to keep it out of the garbage?
What is multi-layer plastic (MLP) packaging?
This packaging is most commonly found in food packaging, often in bags containing dried fruit, nuts, and rice. You probably have some in your kitchen right now. Keep an eye out at the supermarket, and you’ll likely start seeing it everywhere. Manufacturers use up to 11 different layers of materials in food packaging because they help keep food fresh longer. These layers include different types of plastic and other materials like paper and even metal. Together, the layers effectively keep out light, moisture, and oxygen, which can all make food go bad faster.
What’s the difference between multi-layer plastic and plastic film?
Ridwell members ask us this all the time, and since these two types of plastic make up much of what consumers find themselves using, it’s time to set the record straight. Plastic film is the thin, stretchy plastic you most often find in bubble wrap, plastic shipping envelopes, grocery bags, and more. A good rule of thumb is that if you can push your thumb through it easily, it’s plastic film. In contrast, multi-layer plastic is loud, crinkly, and thick, and it won’t easily allow a thumb to push through it. You’ll find it most often in packaging containing foods like rice, nuts, dried fruit, and beef jerky.
Why is multi-layer plastic hard to recycle?
Ironically, the same qualities that make MLP packaging great at keeping food fresh are the very same ones that make it hard to recycle. This difficulty comes down to the fact that it’s relatively easy to smash multiple materials together during manufacturing but much harder to separate them and recycle them properly. Imagine if someone knit you a sweater containing wool plus metal and plastic threads. To unravel and recycle the sweater, you’d need to not just unravel the wool, but disentangle all the plastic and metal, and then deal with them separately. Now imagine doing that with hundreds of thousands of pounds of material, and you have an idea why MLP packaging is hard to recycle at scale.
While some estimate that a widely available solution to multi-layer plastic packaging won’t be available for another 5-10 years, we have found a way to recycle it so you don’t have to wait.
How can Ridwell help recycle multi-layer plastic packaging?
To make it easier to deal responsibly with this common type of packaging, Ridwell offers multi-layer plastic pickup as part of our Plastic Plus and Unlimited membership plans. Once we pick up your multi-layer plastic, we get it to one of our recycling partners: Arqlite, ByFusion, or Hydroblox. Arqlite turns your MLP into innovative gravel for landscaping and hydroponics systems. ByFusion turns it into a zero-waste building material called ByBlock in a manufacturing process that produces 83% fewer CO2 emissions than concrete blocks. Hydroblox uses an environmentally friendly manufacturing process which uses no glue, binders, chemicals or exhaust heat to turn your MLP into commercial and industrial drainage material.
We’re very excited to be working with our members and these innovative recycling partners to keep multi-layer plastic packaging out of landfills. Quick tip: as with all recycling, it’s critical for MLP to be clean and dry for it to be recycled!
If you’d like to recycle more of this plastic, along with plastic film, clothing, lightbulbs, and lots of other hard-to-recycle stuff, be sure to sign up for Ridwell.