Command Packaging, a maker of plastic bags for retailers and restaurants, has been officially licensed by the state as a recycler for plastic bags and film.
Command uses both post-consumer plastic and post-industrial waste from its own bag-making operations, and it has a full-time purchasing department for buying plastic waste. The company takes plastic bags, shrink and stretch wrap, bubble wrap, dry cleaning bags, and bags for coffee, bread, produce and frozen food. It also provides recycling bins, balers, pickup and informational materials to companies that provide waste.
The company launched its recycling center last year, and the license means it can now take recyclables from the public. The company has been collecting plastic from businesses much longer, and has been using recycled plastic for about 19 years. About four years ago it began its Encore line of bags, which contain from 80-100 percent recycled content, and which now encompasses the majority of its products.
It also give customers the choice of including an additive in bags that will spur decomposition when the bag is put in appropriate conditions, especially when exposed to soil and bacteria. Depending on conditions, the bags could degrade in nine months to five years, according to Command. |
