Across the United States, Hefty® partners with communities and recycling facilities to help give new life to hard-to-recycle plastics and keep them out of landfills. But our efforts don’t stop there. We constantly seek new ways to recover plastics and expand the Hefty ReNew™ Program to reduce our environmental impact. With everyone working together, every small effort can make a big impact as we ReThink ReCycling with ReNew™.
We take responsibility for this recycling program very seriously. We strive to:
We work to ensure the hard-to-recycle plastics you collect are repurposed.
We pursue new ways to turn hard-to-recycle plastics into new materials and products, prioritizing mechanical end markets.
We offer education and tools to help support a positive impact of the Program in your community.
We aim to make the Program available to as many communities as we can.
We collaborate with partners to review and measure our processes to ensure they’re better for the environment.
When you participate in the Hefty ReNew Program and use the orange bags to collect hard-to-recycle plastics, you’re helping to turn more plastic into new products instead of trash! Our Program focuses on mechanical end markets—places where eligible collected materials are used to create new products. We partner closely with our local community leaders to find the best ways to process these hard-to-recycle plastics. Here are some examples of end markets used by the Program:
See how one of our partners takes the hard-to-recycle plastics and turns them into lumber.
Some partners turn the plastics into park benches, sheds, privacy fencing, landscaping, and dumpster enclosures.
Processed plastic makes materials for buildings, green roofing, and bus shelters.
The Hefty ReNew Program focuses on mechanical end markets. However, sometimes, the plastics collected in the Program aren’t suitable for mechanical end markets because they are contaminated or have other issues. We send plastic waste to cement kilns as a coal substitute in these cases. This method prevents plastics from going to landfills and helps reduce greenhouse gases. In every case, we work with local community leaders to decide how to process hard-to-recycle plastics.
* Since program inception through September 2024
We conduct a third-party, peer-reviewed LCA every two years in the spirit of our commitment to transparency and accountability. Our LCA reports help us determine the environmental impacts of end-of-life (EOL) options for Hefty® ReNew® Orange Bag materials compared to sending them to landfills. The green segments represent areas where the EOL option yields better environmental benefits compared to the landfill baseline, and the gray areas represent indicators where the landfill baseline is preferable to the EOL solution. The full LCA report provides more detailed findings.
Look at our reports from outside experts. They share detailed facts about how our Program and end markets help the environment.
Hefty ReNew Program participants—need more details about the program or product? We’re here to help.
Explore how the Hefty ReNew Program is making a difference to reduce waste in landfills and giving new life to hard-to-recycle products in participating communities.
Looking to involve your kids and neighbors in the Hefty ReNew Program? Our educational materials can help make recycling enjoyable and accessible for all.