Cereal Bags & Box Liners Put in Garbage Tears Like Paper? Not Recyclable If a cereal box liner tears like paper, then it isn’t made from plastic #2, and it cannot be recycled with plastic bags. Either reuse it or throw it in the trash. Empty the Crumbs When recycling plastic bags, they should always be clean of all food, so dump the crumbs out of your cereal bag before recycling. Ways to Reuse Wax Paper Substitute Plastic cereal bags work well as wax paper for tasks like separating burger patties, rolling out cookie dough or pie crusts, and drying chocolate-dipped candies.