You already know that donating your gently-used clothing and household items to Goodwill does good for your community by funding our Workforce Development programs. Now you can do even more GOOD by recycling your plastic bags and plastic films with Goodwill Industries of the Chesapeake and TREX!
Help Goodwill keep plastic bags and other plastic films out of our region’s waterways, beaches, roadsides and landfills. Recycle with Goodwill and TREX!
Donating your clean and dry plastic bags and plastic film is EASY:
- View the list of plastics that we can recycle with TREX
- Locate a Goodwill Store
- Recycle your plastic bags and film in our convenient collection bin located inside each of our stores
Questions about TREX?
View our list of frequently asked questions below if you have any questions about Goodwill’s TREX program:
FAQs
What types of plastics does Goodwill currently NOT accept for recycling?
At this time, we are only able to accept clean and dry plastic film for recycling. This would be any plastic that you’re able to push your thumb through AND is also free from all moisture and food residue. Plastic film that is wet and/or contains food residue can develop mold rendering it unfit for recycling. Some of the items we are not able to accept include: all firm plastic (bottles, toys, food storage containers, etc.), mixed material plastics such as paper mailers with bubble wrap on the inside, insulated bags, blister packs, vinyl, latex, bottle caps, six pack rings.
Do I have to remove shipping labels from plastic mailers?
We want this to be as easy as possible for you so don’t worry about removing shipping labels (unless you want to)!
How much plastic does Goodwill anticipate diverting from landfills through this partnership with TREX?
Prior to launching the TREX plastic film recycling collaboration, Goodwill Industries of the Chesapeake, Goodwill of Delaware and Delaware County, and Goodwill of Greater Washington collectively set aside more than 30,000 pounds of plastic film from clothing donations in just three months!
From our donation areas alone, we anticipate recycling 100,000 pounds of plastic film annually. Imagine how much more plastic we can divert from our area’s landfills as our donors, shoppers and members of the public recycle their household plastics in our Goodwill stores!
Why is Goodwill recycling plastic film?
Recycling is in our DNA. From our founding, Goodwill has recycled and upcycled clothing and household goods through our donated goods/retail program. Donated items are sold in our stores and help fund our workforce development programs (job training, retention and placement services), at no cost to the people we serve.
The majority of donated clothing comes to us in plastic bags. Recycling these bags (and other plastic film) just makes sense! The money we save on our trash bill gets allocated to our mission services and we help to keep plastic film that would take decades or longer to decompose, out of our region’s roadways, waterways, beaches and landfills!
Are all Goodwills participating in the TREX recycling program?
At this time, we’re aware of three Goodwills on the East coast of the United States who are recycling plastic film with TREX – Goodwill Industries of the Chesapeake, Goodwill of Delaware and Delaware County, and Goodwill of Greater Washington. Please contact your local Goodwill to inquire about their recycling programs.
