Yes, You Can Recycle These Plastic Mailers
Sort your mail any day, and you’ve probably gotten a lot of junk, from junk mail to unnecessary packaging materials. Luckily, you can recycle some of those pesky plastic mailings pretty easily.
For reference, many of these mailboxes are made from either # 2 HDPE plastic or # 4 LDPE plastic. Most recycling programs do not accept postage as they can confuse recycling equipment (although many programs may indicate they will accept # 2 or # 4 hard plastics such as some plastic bottles as they are less likely to cause such complications).
But plastic mailers can be recycled at many grocery stores or large box stores that accept plastic bags made from the same type of plastic. Home Depot, Whole Foods, and Target are just a few examples of stores that accept plastic mail in containers for change. You can find your nearest store using the Earth911 finder (and # 2 or # 4 plastic filtering) or the How2Recycle catalog .
Before throwing them away, check your mailbox for the recycling symbol to find out the type of plastic. Then search the Internet for your own # 2 or # 4 flexible plastic curbside program. According to How2Recycle , you should remove all paper labels from the mailers themselves (which can simplify the sorting process). If you have one of these paper mailboxes wrapped in bubble wrap, it can also be recycled with plastic bags! Simply cut off the mailer packaging and dispose of separately. If you still have questions, it doesn’t hurt to contact the store for their policies.