It’s hard to recycle Halloween candy wrappers
On October 31, an estimated 600,000,000 pounds of Halloween candy were distributed. Each mini or full-size candies are individually wrapped in plastic. Add up all the small plastic wrappers, and you’ll be surprised at how much they add up. The 600 million candy wrappers, the plastic bags in which they are packaged, and the bags in which some trick-or-treaters collect their candy add up.
Imagine the 600,000,000+ bags of garbage in landfills and on city and country roads. The wind blows them into streams, which feed into rivers, and the ocean. Fish, turtles, and other aquatic animals eat them. They can be caught in rocks or trees for two decades, slowly degrading and releasing plastics into soil. This is a huge problem. What can you do to prevent this?
Candy Wrapper Recycling: A Problem?
Plastic candy wrappers are often coated with melted chocolate, peanut butter, and other oils. The oils can affect the quality of the plastic even when it is recycled. They come in many bright colors, and they are difficult to sort. They all blend when they are melted and mixed.
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It could be more beneficial for many things, as you’ll end up with a plastic of poor quality that is a dull color. It isn’t easy to dye brown, so anything you make will have to be brown. Recycling is more expensive than recycled plastic. We live in a money-driven world. Recycling was originally established to prevent items from being thrown away, but soon it became necessary to make enough money to pay for employees, electricity, recycling trucks and machinery to process recyclables.
Although it’s cheaper to dispose of candy wrappers rather than recycle them, that doesn’t mean you should. Now is the time to think about what you can do. You may not be able to start this year, but next year is still possible.
Recycling Plastic Candy Wrappers & Plastic Films
There are several programs that ensure candy wrappers will be recycled and not thrown away. Here are some ways to recycle candy bags and wrappers.
- Purchase a Candy Wrapper Recycler Box
Are you a teacher or a leader of a community center? Rubicon Technologies offers free recycling boxes. You can order the free candy wrapper recycle box to have it sent to a recycling facility. This keeps candy wrappers out of landfills.
If everyone returned their wrappers to a company who can recycle plastic candy wrappings, around two tons could be recycled. Two tons of plastic are kept out of landfills. This is a little smaller than a giraffe.
- Receive Free Recyclable Candy Bags and Mailers
Watch Mars Wrigley next year for free recyclable Trick-or-Treat Bags. Children used these bags to collect candy on Halloween. To keep candy wrappers from ending up in landfills, the bags are filled with candy wrappers at home and sealed to be mailed to a recycling company. The bags were quickly claimed, so be the first in line for next year.
What happens to plastic candy wrappers recycled from the waste stream? Plastic candy wrappers are pelletized and used in other products, such as pet waste bags. The cycle is completed in one step. You adopt a circular economy, whereby items are reused multiple times, and the raw materials needed to manufacture the plastic candies’ wrappers are reduced.
- Recycle your Wrappers
Candy wrappers can be turned into artwork. You can make money with decoupage, a popular hobby. Shellac can be used to fix the candy wrappers onto a vase from a dollar shop. You can use various colors to create artistic images or choose wrappers of varying themes and designs.
Use wrappers to create a unique wooden spoon. You can also use shellac, set the utensils on concrete stepping stones, and cover them with resin. You’ll be surprised at how well your designs sell in craft stores and online shops like Etsy.
- Pay to Recycle them.
It’s not an option everyone can afford, but it is worth looking into if you have the money. Some plastic recycling companies sell postage-paid boxes for recycling candy wrappers. Fill it with your plastic candy and snack wrappers, and send it to the recycling company postage-paid. You can split the cost of recycling with other families. Find the best box for your budget by searching online.
- Buy Candies Made From Recycled Plastic or Compostable Material
Please support the companies that recycle plastic to wrap their candies. Cadbury is among them. Cadbury’s recycled candy packaging contains 30% recycled plastic.
Mars has teamed up with a biotech firm to develop compostable candy wrappers. This is an excellent way to keep candy wrappings out of landfills as soon as they are available. Hershey has programs in place to make its wrappers compostable, recyclable, or made of recycled plastic.
- Talk to Your Town
Ask your municipality if it participates in any candy wrapper recycling programs. You may not be eligible for free boxes for community or school programs, but your town might have them. Just ask. You can still get them to consider getting a package next year, even if they don’t have any plans for this year.
- Buy Candies in Paper Wrappers
Bulk candies are available in wax-coated paper wrappers. Most bulk candy comes in paper bags that are wax-coated. You can use cheesecloth instead of paper bags to create more eco-friendly packaging.
You can recycle Miniature M & M tubes in your area. Candy like Necco Wafers and Junior Mints comes in wax paper and boxes.
- Recycling Candy Wrappers is Not Enough
This small step can help us save the world from unnecessary and excessive waste. Start recycling other plastic films in grocery stores.
You can recycle plastic cereal bags, the plastic bags that bakery bread comes in, and plastic grocery bags. You can recycle plastic bags for cereal, bags that come with bakery bread, and grocery bags. Plastic film recycling provides a list of plastic films and bags.
It is essential to give some thought as to what you buy and how you will dispose of the packaging and containers. Recycling is possible in rural areas as well. You may need to seek guidance at times. Recycle Nation offers an online guide to help you find your nearest recycling facility.
