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Plastic Grocery Bags

Yakima County > Public Services > Solid Waste > Plastic Grocery Bags

Landfill Hours

Terrace Heights Landfill
7151 Roza Hill Drive (map)
Yakima, WA
Mon-Fri, 7am-5pm
Sat-Sun, 9am-5pm

Lower Valley Transfer Station
1150 Luther Road (map)
Granger, WA
Mon-Sat, 9am-5pm
Sun, 12pm-5pm

Cheyne Landfill
4970 Cheyne Road (map)
Zilllah, WA
Mon-Sat, 9am-5pm
Sun, 12pm-5pm

Plastic Grocery Bags

Did you know that the average American family uses over 400 plastic shopping bags per year? Every year, Americans throw away 100 billion polyethylene plastic bags. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, only 1% of plastic shopping bags end up getting recycled. Thousands of plastic bags end up as litter each year in Yakima County, getting stuck in trees and polluting our roads and landscapes.

So why not just use paper? The paper-or-plastic question has long been debated. Paper bags, of course, are biodegradable and recyclable, and are made from trees, a renewable resource. But the production of paper bags generates significantly more air and water pollution and manufacturing and recycling them requires more energy than plastic bags do.

Paper bags also take up comparatively more space in landfills. A study for the American Forest and Paper Association estimated that about seven billion paper bags were used in the United States in 2003.

The best solution is to BYOB (Bring Your Own Bag) to the stores where you shop. A typical reusable grocery bag will hold up to 4 times as much as a plastic bag. And most grocery stores will give you a discount on your grocery bill for bringing in your own bag. The following local businesses (listed alphabetically) provide a discount for bringing in reusable bags and/or provide recycling receptacles for plastic bags at their stores.

Bring Your Own Bag (BYOB) Discount

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