Haldiman: Return plastic bags from whence they came, better yet — use reusable

Maybe somebody can tell me how the public got the wrong message about recycling the plastic bags you get from the grocery store.

By all means, those bags are recyclable. They just aren’t good for your recycle bins because they require special handling, can clog recycling machinery, can ruin an entire load of recyclables and have an impact on solid waste service fees.

This is called contamination and plastic bags are the leading cost of recycling contamination for the city of Peoria.

So please, return those to your local grocery stores where they can be transported for proper recycling. Or better yet, bring your own reusable bags to the grocery store.

But this message is not just my own. I have taken a cue from 18 Peoria schools.

In November, Peoria challenged students to keep plastic bags out of the recycle bin by bringing them to school as part of the city’s Plastic Bag Challenge.

The schools collected 15,358 pounds of plastic in the last five months. That is 1.1 million plastic bags.

The bags were collected from the schools by Peoria’s recycling team and delivered to Bashas’ grocery stores where they were transported for proper recycling.

Vistancia Elementary, with 2,937 pounds collected, won the competition. Sunset Heights Elementary was not far behind with 2,849 pounds. As a reward, both schools will receive a student bench made from recycled plastic bags. Unfortunately, I was unable to get my hands on a photo of such a bench. No clue what that may look like. My imagination will just have to run wild until the benches are delivered to the winning schools.

In the meantime, make the paradigm shift and keep the plastic bags out of your recycle bin.

Editor’s note: Mr. Haldiman is the News Editor of the Peoria Today. He can be reached at 623-876-3697 or phaldiman@newszap.com. Follow him on Twitter @philiphaldiman.