Dear Front Rangers >> We’re three weeks into Plastic Free July! This week, let’s unwrap the truth about plastic film and flexible packaging — the softer, stretchier plastics like bags, wraps, pouches, air pillows, and wrappers for everything from granola to juice. Packaging companies love them because they’re light and durable. Recycling operators? Not so much.

Flexible plastic packaging and film should never go in your curbside bin. They tangle up machinery, jam the sorting process, and contaminate other recyclables like paper and cardboard — causing damage, delays, and extra costs.

So what can you do?

Step one: reduce. Avoid these plastics where you can. Bring reusable bags to the grocery store, skip produce bags and packaged produce, shop the bulk bins for items like granolas and nuts and bring your own containers. Every small shift helps peel back the plastic problem.

Step two: recycle responsibly. Some plastic bags and air pillows can be recycled at designated drop-off locations — but only if they’re made entirely of No. 2 HDPE or No. 4 LDPE plastic. No number? Do the tear test: if you tear it and it stretches and ruffles (instead of tearing in a straight line), it’s likely accepted.

Local drop-off options include:

• The Eco-Cycle/City of Boulder Center for Hard-to-Recycle Materials (CHaRM) accepts clean, dry plastic bags, bubble wrap, air pillows, pallet wrap and dry-cleaning bags. See full guidelines and fees at ecocycle.org/charm.

• The Longmont Recycling Center accepts plastic bags, air pillows and bubble wrap from Longmont residents only.

• Some local grocery stores also have bins for plastic bags.

Plastics from these programs are often turned into composite decking, outdoor furniture or construction materials — replacing wood like redwood or cedar. The upside? Fewer trees cut down. The downside? These products still break down, shed microplastics and eventually head to the landfill.

What about the rest?

If your flexible plastic is made from multiple materials — including chip bags, frozen food bags, coffee bags and crinkly wrappers — then it’s trash. These packages often contain layers of different types of plastic, or mix in paper and metal, making the mixture impossible to recycle.

Despite making up 21% of the packaging market, less than 2% of flexible plastic packaging is recycled in the U.S. This is a prime example of why we need better packaging design. Even using just one type of recyclable plastic would help. But the best solution? Shift to reuse and refill systems that ditch plastic — and its toxic additives — altogether.

— Eco-Monkey

Got Zero Waste questions? We have answers! Contact recycle@ecocycle.org or call Eco-Cycle at 303-444-6634.