Jaffrey Climate Initiative volunteers have been collecting plastic film and bag waste for nearly a year. We began our project in April 2021 in an attempt to find ways to minimize plastics in the landfill. Along the way we discovered Trex, which offers a community challenge to collect bags and drop them at participating grocery stores. Trex then buys the plastics and recycles them into building materials.
As of March 12, 2022, we have collected 3,232 pounds of plastic bags. Plastic bags don’t weigh much, so you can imagine this is quite a pile of plastic. All of that plastic likely would have been in the landfill, or stuck in trees. It takes about 1,000 years for a thin plastic bag to completely break down.
At this point, we’re seeing an increase in collection, and it is clear that we’re barely scratching the surface. And we’re concerned if we stop our collection, the bags may wind up in the landfill. The processing time and space required to accumulate these materials is too much for our municipal facility. Trex requires a minimum of 80,000 pounds per year for a commercial account.
The bulk of the plastic we’ve collected is single-use grocery bags. Everyone can bring these bags to the grocery stores and drop them in the bins. Volunteers are not necessary. Pellet bags, pallet wrap and salt bags are also acceptable. Ask at customer service if your load is too big for their bin.
Bringing reusable grocery bags or refusing a bag if you don’t need one could cut this waste stream considerably. Please think ahead next time you go shopping. We can make a difference.
Carl Querfurth, Elizabeth Webster, Peggy Ueda, Heather Ames, Janet Grant
Jaffrey Climate Initiative plastic bag volunteers.