Lexington Plastic Bag Challenge A Success

Plastic bags and film cannot be recycled in blue recycle carts or dumpsters.

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): In only eight weeks, Lexington collected over 1,000 pounds of plastic bags and wrapping through our community partner locations. Plastic bags were recycled through a partnership with NexTrex, which will now provide our community with a recycled plastic bench for a Lextran stop.

Lexington’s Sustainability section coordinated this effort to collect plastic grocery bags, bread bags, bubble wrap, produce bags and dry cleaning bags, all of which are not able to be recycled through Lexington’s Recycle Center. The City thanks Good Foods Co-op, Lextran, Lex Center for Creative Reuse and Wild Birds Unlimited for serving as collection spots. 

In addition to the City’s collection drive, several Fayette County Public Schools have participated in the NexTrex recycling challenge to earn benches for their schools. Meadowthorpe Elementary and Beamont Middle School both surpassed 1,000 pounds of plastic bags collected, and Arlington Elementary is well on its way. Congratulations to these schools for reaching their goals and thanks to our local schools for helping us keep plastic bags out of Lexington’s waste stream. 

Even though the City’s collection has ended, residents can take their plastic bags to Trex collection bins at any local Meijer or Kroger location. Do not take plastic bags to our partner locations because the temporary collection bins have been removed. 

Plastic bags and film cannot be recycled in blue recycle carts or dumpsters. Plastic bags tangle up in the sorting machinery at the Lexington Recycle Center. This can break equipment and slow down the sorting process. Please dispose of plastic bags correctly at Trex collection bins at Meijer or Kroger. Find a complete list of what is recyclable in blue carts and recycling dumpsters in Lexington. 

Individual organizations are limited to one Nextrex recycling challenge each year. 

 Courtesy: www.lexingtonky.news.com

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