Patent Application
20120317935
The main proponent of plastic bags in the United States is the American Chemistry Council. At their web site, http://www.plasticbagrecycling.org/plasticbag/index.html, they encourage the recycling of plastic bags by the placement of large bins at the entrance of participating retail stores. Because of their low weight to volume ration, a few pounds of bags can occupy several cubic yards of space.
Consumers wishing to recycle plastic bags, stuff numerous plastic bags into a single plastic bag until it is full. The resulting assemblage is bulky and does not have any structure to stack for storage, making it inconvenient to store and transport to market. The bags thus deposited at retail stores occupy a significantly large footprint that could more efficiently be used for retail space. The bins must be emptied often to even larger bins in the back of the store that occupy even more space. As a result of the effort and cost involved, only large chains can afford to participate in the recycling program.
In addition, where communities separate refuse at refuse separation centers, plastic bags are rarely processed, and often get trapped in the conveyer belts, which increases maintenance costs. In general, they are considered a nuisance. Only a small percent of plastic bags are ever recycled. Most end up in land fills.
My invention is a device for packing large amounts of used plastic consumer shopping bags into used empty consumer product containers such as plastic soda bottles for easy storage and transport to recycling centers.
The device consists of a means of securing an empty consumer product's container such as a soda bottle, a chamber into which a wadded up plastic bag is placed and a plunging mechanism for forcing the bag into the container.
In the drawing, an empty consumer product's container, such as a soda bottle A, is secured to the base B of the device, a small chamber C is secured to the top of the bottle, and a wadded up plastic bag is placed into the chamber. A plunger D, on a leveraging arm E is positioned over the chamber and with the downward motion of the leveraging arm, the plunger is forced through the chamber, pushing the plastic bag into the container. To aid in removing air from the bag, the plunger may contain pins or other sharp points.
Full containers can then be easily stored and transported for recycling.
Any way to increase the recycling of plastic bags will have a double benefit, the reuse of a basic resource and the lessening of the use of landfills. The process starts in the home and office and ends at a recycling plant. All along the way, there are savings in storage, handling and transportation costs for the homeowner, retail store and recycling industry.
