If you’ve ordered items from retail giant Amazon, you’ve likely encountered one or more air pillows inside the shipping box. These plastic bags, filled with air, are a practical way to cushion items, ensuring their safe travels from warehouse to doorstep.
Sure, they’re fun to pop. But they also present some recycling challenges, as they’re not always curbside recyclable (though you can toss them together with your plastic bags for store drop-off).
These pillows are made from plastic and are notoriously difficult for Materials Recovery Facilities (MRF) to process. The thin plastic film used to make these cushions can’t be sorted mechanically and can sometimes jam machinery, requiring a stoppage at the facility.
