Recycling is the key to a true green future for California retailers.

Plastic bags are easy to hate, but when they are recycled properly they become “green” gold: a real, long-term, sustainable solution whose time has come, and is in fact already working in Southern California.

Trash goes in – new plastic material comes out. That’s the way it’s done in Vernon, California at Command Packaging’s recycling center, a Nashville Wraps Green Way® supplier. Plastics are collected from a variety of industrial and consumer sources and brought into the recycling center as raw materials. These materials would otherwise be destined for the landfill.

Watch a quick video about how easy it is to recycle plastic bags into new plastic bags:

More about the recycling process

Old bags and plastics go in, and about 60 seconds later, new plastic pellets come out. This new plastic material is:

• Sustainable
• Economical
• Readily available
• Made using very little energy
• Created without pollution to water or air
• Non-toxic
• Clean and inert
• Chemically just like new
• Diverting plastics from landfills
• Driving costs down

We can go from trash to brand new bags in about 45 minutes or less.

To make new bags, the recycled plastic pellets are first siphoned up, then compressed into a liquid and extruded into new plastic film. It’s a lot like blowing bubble gum: air is forced into the liquid plastic, creating a tube which is stretched out and then cooled down as it goes up a tower.

Making color film is easy with the addition of non-toxic colorants. All dyes are certified to be free of toxins and heavy metals, which can’t be said for many of the imported reusable bags not made in America.

Many savvy retailers are going green with economical recycled plastic bags.

The entire process is quick, easy, does not pollute the air or water and uses only a small amount of energy, so the carbon footprint is low. Recycled bags are recyclable again and again; the cycle can repeat itself indefinitely. It’s as simple and green as it gets – which is why it’s time to take another look at American recycled plastics.

Encore™ Recycled Plastics and Green Way® Packaging with Purpose are trademarked names of Command Packaging, Inc. and Nashville Wraps, LLC. For more information, visit www.NashvilleWraps.com.