How do you recycle cellophane?

Question

Given that it's made from plant matter [cellulose] would it be easy to recycle?

Can you put it in with paper for recycling?

Is cellophane sometimes mixed with plastic by packaging manufacturers? If so, does this make it harder to recycle?

Answer 1

hi there... according to my waste collection guide it states that only rigid plastic containers including lids can be recycled.on the flip side under Dont is says no plastic bags or plastic wrap....plastic wrap hast to be put in to your normal trash as it can not be broken down like the bottler...

hope this answers your question.

cheers

jo

Answer 2

As you say, it is made from cellulose. It is rapidly degraded by fungi who synthesis cellulases. Recycle it by burying it in your garden or compost heap.

Answer 3

I looked up cellophane at this website.

http://www.pak-sel.com/sub1.htm

Here is some info on it:

Is it earth-friendly?

Cellulose belongs to a class of compounds known in organic chemistry as carbohydrates. The base unit of cellulose is the glucose molecule. Thousands of these glucose molecules are brought together in the plant growth cycle to form long chains, termed cellulose. These chains are in turn broken down in the production process to form cellulose film used in either an uncoated or coated form in packaging.

When buried, uncoated cellulose film is generally found to degrade within 10 to 30 days; PVDC-coated film is found to degrade in 90 to 120 days and nitrocellulose-coated cellulose is found to degrade in 60 to 90 days.

Tests have shown that the average total time for complete bio-degradation of cellulose film is from 28 to 60 days for uncoated products, and from 80 to 120 days for coated cellulose products. In lake water, the rate of bio-degradation is 10 days for uncoated film and 30 days for coated cellulose film. Even materials which are thought of as highly degradable, like paper and green leaves, take longer to degrade than cellulose film products. Conversely, plastics, polyvinyl chloride, polyethene, polyethlene terepthatlate, and oriented-polypropylene show almost no sign of degradation after long periods of burial.

As for recycling...try PRECYCLING  That's thinking before you buy!  

Avoid buying it.  You could buy alternatives such as bags that can be reused for other things and have several lives.

Refuse it at the store: For instance, If it's on meat --buy the meat at the butcher section of the store--you usually get fresher and better meat cause you can choose and you avoid those styro trays (which take over 500 years to biodegrade).

Hope this helps!

Answer 4

I many cases it is better to find home uses for such stuff

rather than to get in your car and spend energy bringing it somewhere.

I would think that you could sandwitch the material between

two panes of glass where you want light but privacy. it will also add to the insulation of the glass.. minimizing convection.