Can you recycle bubble wrap?
Usually no
Not in your curbside bin, but yes at a store drop-off — it goes in the same bin as plastic bags. Pop the air out first and pull off any tape or labels.
What you need to do
- Pop or deflate air pillows so they take less space in the collection bin
- Peel off tape and shipping labels
- Separate any paper or bubble-lined kraft mailers — those are a composite and go elsewhere
- Keep it clean and dry
Why the answer isn't simple
Three different questions hide inside "is this recyclable?" — and most pages only answer one of them.
Is the material recyclable? yes
What the stuff is made of, in principle.
Bubble wrap and air pillows are polyethylene film, the same family as grocery bags, and they go through the same recovery route. There is a national drop-off network specifically for this material, running to thousands of retail locations.
Source: APR — PE film design guidance
Will a sorting facility recover it? no
What actually happens on the line.
Film is the wrong shape for a sorting line in the most literal sense — it has almost no weight relative to its area, so the air handling that separates light material from heavy sends it everywhere except where it should go. It lifts off conveyors, wraps around rotating screens, and stops the line. This is the same failure that keeps plastic bags out of curbside bins, for the same mechanical reason.
Source: City of Fort Collins recycling guide — bubble wrap and air pillows
Will your curbside program take it? rarely
Local policy, which is where answers diverge.
Essentially no curbside programme accepts it. Municipal guides that list it at all list it to say no, and point at store drop-off instead.
Where else it can go
Store drop-off with plastic bags
The working route. Bubble wrap, air pillows, mailers and grocery bags all go in the same collection bin at the front of most large grocery and retail chains.
Remove tape, shipping labels and any paper or cardboard — mixed materials get the whole batch rejected.
Reuse it
Bubble wrap survives many uses, and independent pack-and-ship shops will often take clean wrap and pillows off your hands.
Call ahead; they may already have plenty.
Common mistakes
- Putting it in the curbside bin because it is obviously plastic
- Leaving the shipping label on, which makes it a mixed material
- Including paper-and-bubble mailers, which cannot be separated back into their layers