Polymailers & Padded Envelopes

Plastic envelopes, Packaging, Parcel, Package, Poly bag, Ecommerce packaging, Mailing pack, Postage packaging, Postal packaging, Bubble polymailer

Recyclable?

Blue Bins & Chutes

Other Recycling

Freecycle / Give Away

Polymailers & padded envelopes which are suitable for reuse are accepted by some small businesses owners. Offer it for free online

It can be logistically difficult for small business owners to collect used packaging in small batches. Saving up large quantities of used packaging makes it more worth it for small businesses to collect from you.

Olio

GoodHood

Alternative

Trash

This kind of plastic is not recycled in practice. Likewise mixed material items like padded envelopes are not generally recycled.

There is far more supply of used polymailers than demand so if it is not convenient for you to drop off at a donation location, just put them in the trash.

Info & Insights

Despite what you might read online, polymailers are not recycled because they can be made from a variety of different plastics and are difficult to sort and bale economically. Though some polymailers are made from LDPE which is recyclable, they are not recycled in practice as post-consumer waste. Likewise, many are made of recycled plastic (good) but such plastic is degraded and difficult to re-recycle.

This kind of flat plastic can look a lot like paper. When it is misidentified as paper in the sorting plants, it contaminates paper recycling making paper recycling rates worse. Therefore we recommend to put polymailers in the trash.