Return-A-Bag FAQs

For more information on our new waste malt bag recycling scheme, we’ve created this FAQs page. Our recycling scheme is designed to be an affordable, simple, and easy option to ensure your used malt sacks don’t go to waste. Find out more on the scheme here.

Where are the waste malt sacks recycled?

All waste malt sacks aggregated through Return-A-Bag are recycled with third-party certified processors, based in the UK and Europe.  

What happens to the waste malt sacks during recycling?

Once they have been sent to an appropriate certified processor, the plastic malt sacks are shredded, melted and converted into a secondary raw material, typically in the form of plastic pellets or flakes. This secondary raw material is then sold to manufacturing companies who use it to produce new end products and complete the recycling journey. End products include: shopping baskets, new packaging, garden furniture, watering cans, storage containers and bins, playground flooring and decking.  

What is Return-A-Bag and how much does it cost? 

Return-A-Bag offers a bulk method of collecting and recycling your empty plastic malt sacks, without any associated recycling or handling fees. The only cost attached is the transportation fee from your site to the waste handling facility. Waste malt sacks of all sizes, from all suppliers, can be recycled through Return-A-Bag. 

How can we store and secure our waste malt sacks onto a pallet?

There are a few different ways to store and secure the pallet of waste malt sacks: 

• Roll up empty waste 25kg sacks and store them within another 25kg sack. Build up the full 25kg sacks inside a ½ ton or 1 ton tote bag 
• Flatten empty waste 25kg sacks and build them up in two piles on a pallet 
• Flatten or roll ½ ton or 1 ton sacks and store within another 1 ton sack 
• Reuse a pallet with cardboard sides to contain flattened or rolled sacks 
• Reuse cardboard boxes from other deliveries to store flattened sacks, to then stack and build up onto a pallet 

Once the pallet has been built up, either shrink wrap or pass straps through the pallet and over the top of the waste to secure for shipment 

Can we include other suppliers waste malt sacks within Return-A-Bag?

Yes! As long as the packaging composition is made from polypropylene or polyethylene, all waste malts sacks of all sizes, from all suppliers, can be included with Return-A-Bag. 

How do we ship the pallet(s) when we are ready to recycle?

Contact us to book in your shipment. Once accepted, you can either organise your own transportation to the facility, or we can provide a quote from our recommended haulier and arrange on your behalf.