Public Works Director Fred Hurley, who oversees Newtown's landfill operations and the local recycling program among his duties, recalls how almost 40 years ago, light plastic bags and food wrappers were causing a big headache.To learn more about which plastic film items are acceptable, visit plasticfilmrecycling.org.

"Right after they built the first regional trash-to-energy plant in Bridgeport, they had issues with light plastics getting caught up in the machinery and causing everything from breakdowns to fires to even a couple of explosions," he said. "Even 40 years ago, light plastic films and bags were a problem for the trash industry."

According to Sherill Baldwin, Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection's WRAP coordinator, light plastics are still playing havoc on crews and machinery at waste sorting facilities across the state. Add to that results of a statewide survey of consumers, which found most people in Connecticut are not aware of where and what to recycle, and an opportunity presented itself.

Those factors led the DEEP to initiate Connecticut WRAP (Wrap Recycling Action Project), an innovative public/private partnership that promotes recycling of plastic "film" beyond bags. The partnership comprises public officials, municipalities, recycling officials, retailers, and grocers including all three of Newtown's grocery stores, plastics makers, and a company called Trex, which makes recycled plastic lumber products, and other recycling advocates.

Grocers and retailers - including Newtown's Stop & Shop, Caraluzzi's Market, and Big Y - accept everything from plastic grocery bags, newspaper bags, produce bags, bread bags, dry cleaning bags, and even zipper bags for recycling. They also accept plastic wraps from water bottle cases, diapers, bathroom tissue, and paper towels, as well as bubble wrap and shipping pillows.

The only condition is these plastic bags and wraps must be clean and dry and placed in easy-to-identify storefront recycling bins. Then, through the WRAP program, these plastic bags and wraps get recycled into products such as new grocery bags, benches, and decking.

About a month ago, DEEP Commissioner Rob Klee was joined at a Middletown grocery store by State Senator Ted Kennedy and State Representative Mike Demicco, two of the co-chairs of the General Assembly's Environment Committee, who spoke about the importance of increasing plastics recycling.

They revealed that a recent survey of Connecticut residents found that only half are aware that certain plastic items should be brought to grocery or retail stores to ensure proper recycling. Plus, few residents are aware of the various types of plastic bags and wraps that can be recycled.

They also made note of the challenges improperly recycled flimsy plastics can pose to the heavy machinery and personnel who sort recycling.

"When plastic bags or wraps are put in curbside bins, it makes recycling more difficult, time consuming, and expensive, which winds up costing all of us more money," Mr Klee noted. "Recycling plastic bags and wraps at participating retailers diverts materials from the landfill and creates useful new products. This supports the state goal of diverting 60 percent of our trash from the waste stream by 2024."

"We're asking everybody in Connecticut to spread the message, pitch in, and recycle plastic bags and wraps by taking them back to participating stores," said Sen Kennedy. Rep Demicco added that he hopes "Connecticut can be a leader in recycling and a role model for other states."

With the recycling of flexible plastic film becoming one of the fastest growing areas of recycling, last June the state sought and initiated a partnership with the American Chemistry Council's (ACC) Flexible Film Recycling Group (FFRG), Ms Baldwin said.

The DEEP WRAP coordinator said recapturing and recycling more plastic bags and flexible film packaging materials will accomplish a number of immediate and long-term goals.

Consumers who take the extra effort to collect applicable plastic film and bags will contribute toward reducing solid waste disposal costs, reducing the contamination of other materials contained in single-stream recycling bins, and will create jobs.

A major focus of the new partnership will be to increase voluntary participation in the recycling of plastic bags, wraps, and other film packaging at supermarkets, grocery stores, and other retail locations. Encouraging Connecticut's retailers to offer this opportunity - and building greater public awareness of it - will reduce the volume of plastic bags and film inappropriately deposited in curbside recycling containers.

"Cleaning up our single stream recycling and making our recyclables more marketable is a very high priority," said Mr Klee. "Plastic bags and other film packaging are recyclable and have real value - just not in our curbside bins. Residents should bring plastic bags and other polyethylene film material to participating retailers, such as grocery stores, which have established collection programs to maintain the quality of film for recycling. Our partnership with ACC's WRAP program will strengthen that recycling network and make more people aware of it."

Recycled polyethylene film can be used to manufacture products such as durable outdoor lumber for decks and fences, and new packaging materials.

Connecticut follows Wisconsin and North Carolina in becoming the third state partner of WRAP. Successful WRAP initiatives can be seen in the states of Washington and Wisconsin, which have demonstrated that greater awareness of store drop-off programs helps reduce film contamination in curbside bins and at local materials recovery facilities (MRFs).

In Vancouver, Wash., the WRAP campaign helped to more than double collection of plastic film packaging through return-to-retail recycling programs, according to a new case study conducted with the City of Vancouver's Environmental Resources Division. The study also found a 75 percent decrease in plastic bag contamination at a local MRF.

Nationally, plastic film recycling collection has increased by 79 percent since 2005. At least 1.17 billion pounds of postconsumer film was recovered in 2014, and the recycling rate grew to 17 percent.

The FFRG, a collaboration working to double the recycling of post-use polyethylene film by 2020, represents materials suppliers, brand owners, manufacturers, and recyclers. In Connecticut, partners include waste authorities, municipalities, recycling processors, haulers, and retailers.