From Howard County Government: Effective Saturday, June 15, 2019, Howard County's Department of Public Works' Bureau of Environmental Services will no longer accept curbside recycling placed out in plastic bags. Items placed out for recycling, should be placed loose in the county assigned recycling bin/cart. Any plastic bagged recyclables will not be collected curbside. County residents will be receiving a postcard in the mail alerting them of this change.

"From expanding curbside composting to becoming more efficient with our recycling techniques, I am committed to making sure that Howard County is disposing of our waste in the most innovative and sustainable ways," said Howard County Executive Calvin Ball. "Making Howard County the most environmentally friendly jurisdiction in the state and region is a goal of my administration and we ask that all of our residents adapt household practices that help us achieve a cleaner and greener future."

Plastic bags and plastic film foul machinery, getting wrapped around recycling equipment and jamming the screens. Small plastic fragments also become air- and water-borne litter. Due to these factors, our contracted processor is no longer accepting recycling in plastic bags. The regional marketplace has contributed to this change. "Market conditions have changed to the point that plastic bags and other film like material, when mixed in with other recyclable items, degrade the quality of the recycling stream output, making it no longer marketable," said Bureau of Environmental Services Recycling Division Chief Alan Wilcom.

In addition, the county's Alpha Ridge Landfill's Residents Convenience Center will no longer accept items for recycling bagged in plastic. County residents who wish to recycle their clean plastic bags and film may do so at participating local grocery stores, big box stores and other retailers who have plastic bag collection bins set up, normally inside the store's front entrance. The Bureau of Environmental Services has developed a map showing participating locations, accessible from the Bureaus "Know Before You Throw" website under "Plastic Bags."