How Plastic Bags are Recycled

The real answer is: just barely. Results of various studies show that only about 10% of plastic bags ever make it to the appropriate recycling places. 

Plastic grocery bags were invented in the 1960’s by a Swedish engineer with the intention of having a multiple-use function, to save trees that were being turned into paper bags. 

During recycling, the bags are fed into a shredder with multiple spinning blades, to be chopped into tiny bits. They are usually made into more bags.

Bags and other plastics are made from oil. Left to break down naturally, they never decompose back into natural elements. Sunlight breaks their molecular bonds into microparticles that contaminate the ground.