Can you recycle bottle caps with the plastic bottles or is each recycled separately?

Question

I have finally convinced everyone in my family to recycle and my brother has recently brought to my attention the fact that the plastic in the caps is different than the rest of the bottle. We have been storing the bottles in a bag with the bottles still on and i wanted to know before we recycle them.

Answer 1

It depends what the lid is made of. If it is made of metal, remove it before recycling. If the lid is plastic, it can all go in together. Glad to be of assistance :-D

Answer 2

Out of respect for the lovely people who run America's recycling centers, please take off your caps.

Most recycling centers accept all types of plastic, but not at the same time, and most bottle caps are not recyclable.  Plastics have to be seperated because the have different melting points and other chemical properties.  Bottle caps can cause clogs in machines which are costly and simply annoying, so most bottles with caps left on will simply be thrown away - in to a landfill - completely defeating the purpose of recycling.  Before dumping your bottles to be recycled, remove the lids and throw them away.

Answer 3

I put both in the recycle bin in at Tescos. Cap is still plastic, i would not worry over them just put the whole lot in.

Answer 4

Actually, I've asked the people who run my town's recycling center, and they say you must take off the cap, plastic or otherwise.  

"If a bottle with a cap on it is recycled, more effort will be required to crush it and break it down. In addition, the cap is often made from a plastic resin that is different from the resin of the bottle. Thus, the cap becomes a source of contamination for the plastic resin that is being recycled. The best thing to do with the cap is to remove it and throw it out with the garbage."--http://www.earthodyssey.com/H...

Answer 5

Advisble to separate the caps!

Answer 6

your local town code should tell you what number plastics you can recycle and how to separate them. My town recycles 1 & 2 only. Honestly, I've gone back and forth on the caps. They never seem to have numbers on them. Most of the time I leave them on. It makes more sense to me. That's what I would suggest.

Answer 7

i think you can just leave the caps on the bottles when you recycle them

Answer 8

ALWAYS take off the caps and crush the bottle!  a lot of caps can't be recycled (some can but they'll be marked as such).   even if the cap can be recycled, if it's left on the bottle can't be crushed.

Answer 9

NO Bottle Caps.  

ive heard the plastic bottles dont get recyled if you leave the caps on.

throw them out separately into regular garbage.

Answer 10

no, they are to be recycled seperately from one another.