Does anyone know if I can turn plastic milk bottles and their plastic tops into cash through recycling?

Question

I am London based and I recycle everything but I think if I am going to recycle anyway why don't I turn it into cash,after all someone else is profiting from my recycled goods like as in when a car is scrapped,furthermore,what is wrong with plastic bottle tops,I have to throw away 1.000's every year,this can't be right?

Answer 1

the tops can not be recycled but the bottles can, but you need a skip load to get about £40, also you would need to wash all the labels odd and cut off any of the rings (from the top bit) as well.

I commend you effort though, if you were serious about you could collect your plastic bottles of your neighbours as well, this way you could collect a large amount in a short time.

Answer 2

I am quite sure that a local charity shop in Bath raised 'money' through these to 'buy' a new wheelchair for a lady that helped out there.  Possibly contact the Red Cross or sombody??

Answer 3

Our council takes all our plastic milk bottles and tops and other plastic, foil,paper, cardboard, tins (food and drink),as long as everything is washed out,and they supply a pink bag for it all, we have more pink bags put out then black ones.

Answer 4

Another thing would be to find another use for them as they are...it's the greatest thing on earth, find something people can't live without but just don't know it yet!

Answer 5

Our local Council collects any plastic (1) or (2) for recycling.

Both plastic milk bottles and their tops come into this category so there must a market out there somewhere.

Sixty years ago there were collection yards where anyone could take their "rags and bones" (metal, etc) to sell.  My mother was a tailoress working from home, and the wool cloth trimmings were a good source of extra pocket money for me.

We still have a weekly "rag & bone" man touring our streets and collecting scrapped metal household equipment but not plastic.  It could be that plastic recyling points are only interested in buying by the ton.

Answer 6

It's highly unlikely that you would find a reprocessor willing to collect and pay for your plastics, which wouldn't weigh more than a few kilos per year.  I've just spent eight years working for a local authority on waste management and plastics are the most difficult commodities to recycle because of the low weight but high volume.  Your local authority will collect between 100-500 tonnes of plastics per year depending on where you are.  They won't get an income from that little lot but will be paying a whopping amount for collection and to the plastics processor for treatment.

My advice to you would be to put your plastics our for the council to collect.  But if you really want to make money from recycling.... collect blue glass bottles (such as Ty Nant water bottles).  You can get about £1,000 per tonne for these depending on latest market info.