Recycling - NO PLASTIC BAGS

PLEASE!  NO PLASTIC BAGS IN YOUR RECYCLE CONTAINER!

Contamination levels in recycling have become a serious issue with recycled materials. Residents continue to include items that are not recyclable such as; diapers, wood, gas jugs, paint cans, garden hoses, lights, party supplies like disposable dinnerware and worst of all, plastic bags of any kind. These items and others cannot be placed in recycling receptacles. Due to the current depressed recycling market conditions, there is zero tolerance for any unacceptable items without financial consequences for the Town.

After your recycling is collected from the curb, it is delivered to a sorting facility, placed on a conveyor belt and fed through machinery separating plastic, glass, paper and cans. Plastic bags get caught in the separators and jam the mechanism which will bring the entire sorting station to a halt. The plastic bags that are tangled in the machinery must be untangled and removed by hand. Time is money at these facilities so towns will endure the additional costs going forward.

All soft plastics such as grocery bags, dry cleaning wraps, bread and produce bags, food storage bags, and case wraps (plastic surrounding a case of water, a package of diapers or paper towels) must be kept out of your recycle container. Plastic grocery bags can be returned to the supermarket for recycling and other soft plastics may be disposed of in your trash container. We want all to be aware of these facts to help with keeping Wilmington green and minimize the escalating costs for solid waste disposal.