Plastic Recycling
Merrick’s Plastic Recycling program provides meaningful work for 28 clients while diverting nearly 1 million pounds of plastic from local incinerators and landfills every year. We contract with businesses for regular pick-ups and accept plastic from the general public at Work Service Program in Vadnais Heights.
Accepted vs. Unaccepted Materials
Here are a few questions to ask yourself to help determine whether we recycle a specific material. Does the material stretch when you pull it? If yes, then we recycle it. If it tears like paper, then we do NOT recycle it. Is the package shiny or does it make a crunchy sound in your hand? If yes, we do NOT recycle it. A majority of what we recycle is #2 and #4 material. Lastly, all plastic must be clean, dry and free of food residue. Don’t worry about sticky labels.
Accepted Materials
We accept all colors of the following materials:
- Pallet wrap & stretch film
- Case overwrap
- Product wrap
- Garbage bags/liners
- Toilet paper/paper towel/water bottle wrapping
- Salt bags
- Ice bags
- Non-paper bubble mailers & other plastic mailers
- Grocery/retail bags
- Ziploc & other re-sealable food storage bags
- Bread bags
- Cereal/pasta bags
- Dry cleaning bags
- Newspaper sleeves
- Produce bags
- Carpet overwrap
- Furniture foam wrap
- Heat sheets
- Mattress bags
- Wood pellet bags
- Bubble wrap
- Soft flexible foam
Unaccepted Materials
We do not accept the following materials:
- Wet material
- Hard plastic (e.g. water bottles)
- Pallet strapping
- Freight/shipping air sacs
- Material containing nylon (sometimes looks like a grid in the plastic—common in pet food bags & freight/shipping air sacs)
- Biodegradable/compostable bags or film packaging
- Adhesives
- Sticker backing
- Organic material (including paper & cardboard)
- Frozen food bags
- Pre-washed salad mix bags
- Six-pack rings
- Aluminum-lined &/or metallic-looking packaging (ex. Chip bags & candy bar wrappers)
- Rubber
- Metal
Contact Us
Businesses and individuals interested in utilizing our plastic recycling services should contact Assistant Production Director Marissa Jenson at 651.789.6218 or MarissaJ@MerrickInc.org. Inquiries regarding services may also be submitted through our Plastic Recycling Form.