Can you recycle bubble wrap?

🗑️ LandfillNot in your curbside bin — but store film drop-off accepts it.

Bubble wrap is a soft plastic film. Like plastic bags, it tangles the sorting machines, so it's not accepted in LA County curbside recycling (it goes in the black trash cart). The better option: clean, dry bubble wrap can go in a store plastic-film drop-off alongside grocery bags.

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The film drop-off route

Many grocery and big-box stores have a plastic-film collection bin near the entrance. Clean, dry bubble wrap, plastic bags, and shipping air pillows all go there — this is the real recycling path for these soft plastics.

If you can't drop it off

Put it in the black trash cart. Reusing it for your next shipment is even better.

Bubble Wrap — quick FAQ

Is bubble wrap recyclable curbside?
No — soft plastic film like bubble wrap isn't accepted in the curbside recycling cart. Use a store film drop-off, or put it in the trash.
Where can I recycle bubble wrap?
At store plastic-film drop-off bins (the same ones that take plastic grocery bags), usually near the entrance of grocery and big-box stores.
Can bubble wrap go in the recycling bin if it's clean?
No — clean or dirty, film plastic jams the sorting equipment. Keep it out of the curbside cart.

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