recyclable plastic film is efficiently collected for recycling at stores or other locations by compacting the plastic film as layers in plastic / cardboard bales . the plastic / cardboard bales can be formed using existing cardboard balers that stores typically already have for baling recyclable cardboard . in one embodiment , the plastic / cardboard bales are preferably formed with a bottom layer of cardboard , a middle layer of the recyclable plastic film , and a top layer of cardboard . the layered structure can be modified to omit one of the cardboard layers or to add additional plastic film and cardboard layers .