Locations

You'll find plastic bag recycling sites conveniently located throughout the City of Middleton at:

  • Ace Hardware Middleton Springs
    2540 Allen Boulevard
  • Middleton Public Library
    7425 Hubbard Avenue
  • Willy Street Co-op (West)
    6825 University Avenue
  • Wolff Kubly Ace Hardware
    6305 University Avenue
  • In Greenway Station at:
    Erehwon Mountain Outfitter
    1661 Deming Way Unit 110
  • There is an existing site at:
    Copps Food Center
    6800 Century Avenue

You can also recycle your plastic bags (brown paper ones too!) by donating them to the Middleton Outreach Ministry's Food Pantry. Clean bags can be dropped off at their location (8710-8712 Montclair Drive, Middleton) Mon-Thur 10am-2pm; Fri-Sat 9am-Noon.

Use reusable grocery bags instead!

Here are some reasons why reusable bags are better than plastic:

  • Plastic bags take an estimated 500-1000 years to decompose¹, so plastic bags easily build up in landfills.
  • Plastic bags often end up as litter along roadsides and waterways.
  • Toxic chemicals are used in the production of plastic and paper bags, which contributes to air pollution.
  • Plastic bags in the environment can pose hazards to animals that eat them, and can leach toxic chemicals into the environment.
  • The manufacture of plastic bags uses oil. The US uses 100 billion plastic bags annually, made from an estimated 12 million barrels of oil.²
  • Burning plastic bags results in air pollution and toxic ash.
  • Reusable bags are more comfortable to carry than plastic bags and resist tears and breakage during use.
  • Many types of reusable bags hold their shape better than plastic bags, making reusable bags more convenient for transport in your car or the basket of your bicycle

¹ "Will My Plastic Bag Still Be Here in 2507?: How scientists figure out how long it takes your trash to decompose." June 27, 2007. http://www.slate.com/id/2169287/.

² "More Than Meets the Eye: Paper or Plastic?" October 3, 2007.

What type of bags can be recycled?

The City of Middleton plastic bag recycling program accepts the following types of plastic bags:

  • Grocery, retail, and drug store bags
  • Newspaper delivery bags
  • Dry cleaning bags
  • Softener salt bags
  • Ice cube bags
  • All clean bags labeled #2 and #4
  • Plastic film wrapping from plastic water and beverage bottle casing
  • Large pillow packing bubbles

 

Do not recycle:

  • Food wrap
  • Food packaging (meat wrap, prepackaged / produce bags, etc.)
  • Dark green or black trash bags
  • Bubble wrap
  • Drawstring bags(drawstring bags can be recycled if the drawstrings are removed)

 

It is important that all bags to be recycled be:

  • Empty
  • Clean
  • Dry

 

Note: If you are using plastic grocery bags as your garbage bags you can continue to do so.

Brief History of the Ordinance

On November 17, 2009, the Middleton Common Council unanimously referred the idea of creating an ordinance to prohibit non-biodegradable plastic bags in the City of Middleton to the Sustainability Committee. The Sustainability Committee selected a work group of business representatives and Sustainability Committee members to meet and discuss alternatives. The plastic bag group met, discussed four alternatives, and strongly favored an ordinance that would require clean plastic bags to be recycled (similar to Madison's ordinance). The committee also stressed the need for education surrounding any new ordinance, and education that will encourage shoppers to bring reusable bags, which the committee determined to be the most environmentally-friendly bag option.

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