We talk a lot about plastic bags on the PreZero blog, but bags are just one part of a family of plastics called “film.” You come across a lot of it in the course of a day, especially the film you find in your grocery store—think about how your sandwich bread is wrapped or that carton of tomatoes.

Plastic Protects and Preserves Food

Fruit, vegetables, bread, tortillas, and other items are wrapped in plastic film, pouches, and bags to protect them during shipping and give them a longer shelf life. Plastic-wrapped foods don’t have to be discarded as quickly as unwrapped foods, which is especially important for inner-city communities with limited shopping access and often limited refrigeration. Such communities run the risk of becoming “food deserts” without the preservation capabilities of plastic film.

Let’s also consider food waste. Numbers vary, depending on how they’re calculated, but however you add it up, the numbers are staggering. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, about 133 billion pounds of food are lost per year between retail and consumers, much of which could’ve helped feed hungry families.

Eliminating food waste entirely is a tall order, but there are people out there who are making a big difference with a concept called “food rescue”—connecting stores, restaurants, farms, and food banks to prevent perfectly good food from being thrown away and becoming the largest greenhouse-emissions producer in landfills.

A lot of food can be rescued because it is kept safe from damage and deterioration by plastic packaging.

What About Other Plastic Films?

Another common film you’re most likely to deal with on a regular basis is cling wrap or plastic wrap. You’ve probably got a roll of it in your kitchen right now. Cling wrap can extend the life of food for many days, especially for messier meals like fish. If you’re careful about how you remove cling wrap, it can be flattened using a soft fabric cloth and put to a number of re-uses.

Can you recycle thin food bags and cling wrap?

In some places, yes! Check your local facilities to see if you can recycle:

• Department store bags
• Dry cleaning bags
• Bread bags
• Sandwich bags
• Freezer bags
• Produce bags
• Zipper bags
• Newspaper bags
• Overwrap from beverage cases, paper towels, and bathroom tissue

In many cases, these items can make a comeback as fresh, new packaging through recycling and be put to use in the fight against food waste, keeping food fresher longer and helping to get it safely to people in need.