Milwaukee Starts Plastic Bag, Film Recycling CampaignMilwaukee Starts Plastic Bag, Film Recycling Campaign

Milwaukee has launched a campaign to increase the recycling of plastic bags and other plastic film products.

In Milwaukee, Mayor Tom Barrett, the Department of Public Works and members of the grocery, plastics and recycling community have joined together to promote plastic film recycling.

The campaign is part of Wisconsin WRAP (Wrap Recycling Action Project), a public/private partnership that promotes recycling of plastic film beyond bags. The partnership includes the American Chemistry Council’s (ACC) Flexible Film Recycling Group, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, GreenBlue and the Sustainable Packaging Coalition, the ACC said in a news release.

The mayor also declared October as “Milwaukee Plastic Film Recycling Awareness Month.” The recycling awareness campaign includes a variety of public outreach methods, including radio advertising sponsored by Bemis Co. and Ziploc.

 “Many Milwaukee residents already know that they can take back plastic grocery bags to many retail stores for recycling,” said Steve Russell, vice president of plastics for the ACC. “But they also can take back other plastic bags and wraps, such as zip top food storage bags, the bags for newspapers, produce, bread, and dry-cleaning, and even the plastic wraps from products such as paper towels, diapers, cases of water and more.”