Plastic Bag Manufacturers Create Recycling Symbol

Goal of the new logo is to promote plastic bag recycling.

The Progressive Bag Affiliates has launched an initiative to promote bag recycling throughout the nation. Several of the country's biggest bag manufacturers will begin printing a message on their bags to encourage customers to recycle bags at participating stores. The PBA also unveiled a new comprehensive at-store recycling toolkit designed to make it easy for stores to recycle plastic bags.

API Corporation, Hilex Poly Co. Inc., Inteplast and Superbag Corporation, bag manufacturers which together represent more than 90 percent of the domestic plastic bag production, will all incorporate the new logo and message as a standard feature on their bags. These companies will be offering the new logo for customers that participate in a bag recycling program. Consumers can expect to see the logo on bags throughout the country in the many areas where plastic bag recycling programs are available.

"The goal of the PBA is to gather the leaders of the plastic bag industry together with major recyclers to effect meaningful change in plastic bag recycling," said Steve Russell, managing director for American Chemistry Council's Plastics Division. "This unified awareness campaign, with a clear message printed on millions of bags across the nation, will be one of the most widely distributed environmental messages ever created."

According to the PGA, an estimated 812,010,000 pounds of post-consumer film (including plastic bags) was recovered in 2006, representing a 24 percent increase from figures in 2005. Bag manufacturers are helping to drive that trend by working in cooperation with

The new at-store recycling toolkit that has been developed by the ACC will also feature the new logo in a suite of tools that make it easier than ever for stores to begin plastic bag recycling. The toolkit offers bins and signage for store entrances and exits, checkout signage and pins to raise awareness, and municipal bins to be used at curbside. Ordering information for the toolkit will be available at www.plasticbagrecycling.org .