Hefty will phase out its ReNew Orange Bag Program, in which consumers collect and return hard-to-recycle plastics, the company said this week.
“While participation has remained strong, the recycling infrastructure needed to consistently manage such a broad range of materials and align with community preferences has not developed at the pace or scale anticipated,” Hefty said. “As a result, Reynolds Consumer Products has made the decision to responsibly phase out the Hefty ReNew Program.
“This decision reflects the challenges of operating a program with such a broad material scope at the scale envisioned and does not diminish the commitment and enthusiasm shown by participating communities and residents.”
Hefty will discontinue distribution of the bags by the end of 2026, and collection will continue through June 30, 2027. After that date, consumers with unused bags can contact Hefty for return and refund instructions, and the company will coordinate “responsible processing” of any returned bags.
Reynolds Consumer Products, parent company of Hefty, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The bags had been subject to numerous lawsuits, most recently ending in a $212,000 settlement with the Arizona attorney general over claims that the bags themselves were recyclable.
Bag program ending but problem remains
In Omaha, Nebraska, First Star Recycling’s processing division, Solutions Plastic Lumber, uses items collected in the orange bags to make plastic boards for use in outdoor furniture and other durable goods.
“It’s disappointing, but not totally surprising that Hefty is pulling the plug,” First Star CEO Patrick Leahy told Plastics Recycling Update. “Hefty really drove the conversation and tried to get at the problem.”
And even though the ReNew bag program is ending, the problem is not, he said. “Post-consumer film and flexible plastics are still in the stream, and recycling them is still a challenge.”
His company has been “somewhat preparing” for any change in the program, “whether Hefty discontinued it or Glad got into it,” he said. For example, First Star’s communication materials refer to the “orange bag program” rather than including the Hefty brand name.
The recycler will continue to provide the service in its MRF-shed that includes Omaha, Lincoln and southeast Nebraska. Residents and commercial accounts can either buy bags through First Star, or use orange bags from other commercial outlets. “The reason we stuck with orange is that it’s just a color that ‘pops’ in our system during the manual sort,” Leahy said.
And for those who still want to help find a solution to the issue of flexible plastics, “I welcome any stakeholder to see what we’re doing, how we’ve made a go of it, and why we continue to accept these kinds of flexible post-consumer plastics in our stream to make lumber,” he said.
