How to Recycle Freezer Bags - Photo of a picture of sweet kernel corn

Well, well, well…with this blog, I definitely learn a new thing every day.

Frozen food bags hardly ever have a recycling symbol on them. And I’ve long been confused about the topic. And honestly, I have never really cared, that is, until I started caring.

I buy frozen food/veggies more than people probably should, but when you live alone and travel a lot, it is much healthier to be able to have some kind of veggies or meat on-hand for a stir fry if you have no groceries and don’t want to eat out for the 7th time in a row. ?

So, today, before I filmed my “Rubbish or Recycling?” video, I did have a few question marks about this little guy. I went to the City of Chicago’s recycling website and found that though you can put plastic film (those thin plastic shopping bags you get at convenience stores, or plastic packaging) into the recycling bins at the grocery store, plastic frozen food bags are not recyclable. Why? There’s an extra layer in there that keeps the food fresh.

There is a caveat to this: if the bag does have a recycling label on it, by all means, see what your city allows you to do. Things are changing all the time with recycling and I’m doing my best to keep up here!

Determination: Throw these in the trash, or don’t buy them at all.

How to Recycle Frozen Food Bags

MJ

Hi, I'm MJ, a recovering aspirational recycler who started HowToRecycle to share her journey with others. I kindly invite you to share your knowledge with me, talk about issues that are bothering you, tell me where I’m wrong (you know you want to), and help me discover new things!