Bottle Caps-Plastic
Plastic bottle caps should now be left ON empty bottles for recycling. New processing technology allows caps to be collected and recycled while attached to a bottle. Plastic bottles with caps are sorted at the materials recovery facility, perforated, and baled. The baled bottles and caps are purchased as a raw material by a manufacturer or processor. The manufacturer or processor shreds the bottles and caps into flakes which are put through a float tank to separate the different plastic types for end use.
A bottle cap which is separate from a bottle is too small to be sorted in a materials recovery facility and will probably end up as trash for landfill or incineration. Please empty your bottles, replace the caps, and deposit them in a recycling bin.
Another way to recycle caps is through the
“Preserve Gimme 5” program.
Green Tree Plastics will recycle plastic caps collected by school students or any children's organization through their ABC (A Bench for Caps) Program. Visit
ABC Promise Partnership for more information.