Styrofoam and other plastic packaging materials should not be placed in your recycling bin. However, packaging outlets such as Mail Boxes Etc. and The UPS Store, located throughout Westchester County, do take back Styrofoam, bubble wrap and other packaging materials. Visit www.earth911.com and enter the search terms "packing peanuts" and "other packing materials" to find the location closest to you.
Also, plastic bags used for product packaging, either to wrap goods or inflated to protect items during shipping, can be recycled along with plastic grocery bags and dry cleaning bags at large grocery and retail stores. Please be sure to punch holes in all inflated packaging materials prior to recycling.
Retailers with stores 10,000 square feet or greater, who distribute plastic bags to their customers, are required by the New York State Plastic Bag Reduction, Reuse and Recycling Law to establish an in-store collection and recycling program. You will find receptacles near or at the entrance to the store.
Remember, it's usually not just plastic grocery bags that can go in the bin - clean plastic newspaper bags, bread bags, dry cleaning bags, packaging for toilet paper and paper towels, durable retail bags with hard plastic and string handles removed, clean cling wrap and sandwich bags are often collected for recycling as well.