Its come to my attention that barely anyone knows what its possible to recycle at the carrier bag recycling points.
This is hardly surprising as the information is not easily found! It took a fair bit of research but I’ve compiled a list of all the things we can actually recycle quite conveniently as we do our weekly shop.
At most Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, The Co-op and Waitrose you will find a massive canvas bin labelled “Plastic Carrier Bag” recycling usually by the entrance. It turns out we can put much, much more into this than is immediately obvious including:
- Almost all plastic bags*
- Shrink wrap from multipacks of water, cans etc
- Ring joiners from can multipacks (please break these up first just in case they don’t make it 😉 )
- Frozen goods bags
- Grey postage bags
- Bubble Wrap
- Generally all stretchy plastic
- Bags your carrots come in
- Bread Bags
- Bagel Bags
- Bags for various fruit & veg
- Bags included in furniture packing
- Postal Bags
In fact – almost any stretchy plastic can go in here!*
*This excludes “biodegradable” bags as these can cause problems if mixed in with standard recycling.
As with all recycling, ensure your plastic is clean.
Interested in knowing more about exactly what can be recycled and where? Recycle Now is a fantastic resource which can tell you what can be recycled and where using a very handy search tool.
Want to know more about the recycling process in the UK? There is a fantastic resource over on
PLEASE NOTE
Although recycling like this appears like great progress we should always remember that the greenest option is to avoid plastic where possible. Recycling itself is a
Naomiresource intensive process and we currently don’t have complete assurances that after collection it’s dealt with in a way we would be happy with. So let’s try and avoid it in the first place and use this is a last resort!
Great to tackle this. Really hard to find the answer to the question of what can be recyled with carrier bags at supermarkets. Can I also ask whether we can add in plastic net bags (for fruit); crinkly plastic bags for veg like green beans; bags of the type used for Morningflake porridge oats; plastic bags for cheese blocks; plastic films on strawberry boxes? Thank you!
I know! Very confusing isn’t it! Don’t think there is another option for fruit nets other than reuse. Same with those crinkly bags, and films – I’m afraid just go in your general bin or ecobrick them!
Sainsbury’s, Tesco, coop accept these.
This info may be out of date as a lot of places are now accepting a wider range of soft plastics including but not limited to – wipes plastic packaging, wrappers from crisps and sweets/chocolate, plastic salad bags, pet food pouches, rice and pasta plastic packaging, plastic wrappings from paper and card. Almost any soft plastic! I have seen this extension in Sainsbury’s, Tesco, CO-OP, there may be more.
Thanks