Are Plastic Food Pouches Recyclable? We’ve been thinking about this question for awhile. As parents, we use these squeezable pouches every day…with guilt. So, we did the research to see if these pouches are recyclable. Here’s what we found!
So, Are Plastic Food Pouches Recyclable?
The sad and short answer is: No, most are not. Not by your municipal recycling service anyway. These flexible pouches, as they are called, are not impossible to recycle. But, they are extremely difficult to recycle. Here’s why. These convenient snack pouches are often made of multiple layers of different materials, including plastics.
You may be thinking: shouldn’t they be easily recycled if they are made of mostly plastic? Plastic alone is somewhat easy to recycle, but plastic melded with other materials…not so easy.
What about the plastic pouch caps? Are they recyclable?
The colorful little caps on the pouches are easier to recycle. The caps made from #2 plastic are curbside recyclable in some cities. However, some places can’t accept them because they’re too small to be sorted efficiently. Learn more about where to recycle plastics in Indianapolis here. Also, make sure you call your municipal curbside recycling program to check on which plastics they accept.
Great News! The TerraCycle Program Can Recycle Baby Food Pouches
Have you ever seen the “TerraCycle” label on the back of baby food pouches and other flexible pouch products? Here are the basics of how TerraCycle works:
- Consumers send in hard-to-recycle items (like plastic pouches and caps). Also, there will be a “TerraCycle” logo on the back if the product is part of their program.
- TerraCycle then processes the materials, melts them, and sells them to be made into other items like benches and pallets.
You do have to sign up for TerraCycle, but it’s pretty easy!
More Great News! There is a Free Way to Recycle These Plastic Pouches!
Per the TerraCycle website, you don’t have to wash out the pouches before sending them in. Just remove as much as the remaining product as you can.
Visit the TerraCycle’s FAQ on Baby Food and Plastic Pouch Recycling to Learn more!
Even More Great News! It’s Free
So, we went ahead and signed Fire Dawgs up to see if it was really free to send in these hard-to-recycle items. And we found out that it is. For example, we clicked the GoGo squeeZ Recycle Program . We wanted to see if this program accepts all squeezable snack food pouches through this program and it does!
We hope we answered Are Plastic Food Pouches Recyclable?
Comment below or Contact Us with any questions. We are always happy to help! Thank you for your interest in caring for our environment and recycling!