Where can I recycle #81 composite materials?

Question

I noticed my pet food bag has a recycling symbol with a new number in it - #81:

The only resource I've found about this symbol is the Wikipedia page on recycling codes, which describes it as Paper/Plastic composite material.

Can this material be recycled anywhere in the USA? Is there any more information about this (new?) recycling category?

Answer 1

According to this list on Wikipedia, #81 is paper and plastic composite.

When it comes to recycling, you have two options:

1. Go to the website of your county or city recycling agency to see if they will accept this material. If they don't, you could try neighboring counties/cities (areas with larger populations will tend to have broader recycling programs). For the US, I was not able to find any comprehensive listing of recycling policies and/or agencies.
2. Take a look at this video for instructions on how to separate the paper and plastic layers - typically the interior paper layer (which is in contact with the food) would be soiled and thus non-recyclable, while the outer plastic layer could be recycled with other similar plastics.

Answer 2

Try Terracycle, look on their website as they recycle hard to recycle items and have a mixture of paid for and free schemes.