Bag Recycling Information and Environmental Reference Sheet

BAG MAKERS promotes the reuse of the bags we distribute. In fact, our direction in recent years has been to design more bags with extended life that keep the promotional messages they carry working longer and out of the refuse cans and landfills. We believe that our non woven bags offer an extended life that rivals similar reusable woven bags like nylon or canvas. This reference sheet for the products shown in our catalog has been created to help you understand some of the complexities of recycling programs.

All bags sold by Bag Makers Inc. can be reused and recycled where facilities exist. As for recycling, this depends on what the collection facilities will do in each area around the country. Our Celebration series of non woven bags have been constructed of a polypropylene composition in a “pure” form for recycling. Most of our other non woven bags have some type of embellishment that restricts them from being considered “pure”.

For example, our Explorer Backpacks contain 3 other materials in addition to the polypropylene – metal grommets, draw cords and reflective strips – that a recycler must also deal with during the recycling process. These items makes this bag a “cross-contaminated” material that will be recycled by some recycling facilities and disposed of as normal waste by others, due to the additional time and costs involved to separate the individual materials. All of the materials are recyclable once they have been separated. Some recyclers will process all materials by filtering out the impurities or separating them out mechanically but we can not determine how the facility in your area will react.

All of our bags are classified under one of 4 categories:

 

	Non -Woven Polypropylene Bags and Shear Elegance Tissue Only the Celebration totes would be considered pure since they have no zippers, eyelets, cords, Velcro or bottom boards.
	High Density “Frosted” Polyethylene Bags Only our Frosted Brite Trapezoid and Frosted Brite Die Cut bags are considered pure since they have no cords, rivets, poly windows or bottom boards.
	Low Density “Glossy” Polyethylene Bags All Glow Bags, Die Cut Handle Bags, Litter Bags, Poly-Draw Bags, Flag Bags, Door Knob Bags and Soft Loop Handle Bags are pure. The only cross-contaminated LDPE bags are our Cotton Draw Bags.
	Paper Bags, Bag/Boxes and Paper Tissue For paper bags, bag/boxes and paper tissue, most recycling facilities also group paper into a pure or cross-contaminated with all cardboard being included in the pure category. Plain brown Kraft and white Kraft bags are considered pure. All other bags which have paper twisted handles, cord handles, gloss or matte laminated finishes, or that have been dyed or flood coated to give them color are considered cross-contaminated. This also includes our Designer Tissue and Paper Shred.
In summary, Bag Makers Inc. recognizes that the composition of our products offer a unique opportunity to focus on the environment. As such, it’s our goal and corporate responsibility to promote both the reusability and recycling ability of all of our products. Check your local government recycling laws for applicability. The presence of what appears to be a recycling symbol does not necessarily mean that the product or material will be accepted locally. Conversely, products that have no recycling symbol present can still be recycled and will be sorted as applicable by the responsible collection facility. In all cases, the best information can be obtained directly from the recycling facility in your area. At Bag Makers Inc., we recycle all of our own scrap bags created during the imprinting process. To download a PDF of our recycling information, click here.