Can you recycle plastic bottle tops and lids?

Plastic caps and lids are recyclable, but on their own they are too small to survive sorting machinery, so screw them back onto the empty, squashed bottle. Loose small lids (under about 4cm) fall through sorting screens and end up in landfill even if you recycle them. Larger lids from tubs can go in loose.

Tips

• Always reattach caps to bottles
• Very small loose lids are better in general waste than falling through sorters

Which bin does it go in?

Recycling bin — screwed back onto the bottle

Background: Plastic numbers 1–7 explained.

Also searched as: bottle caps, screw tops, milk bottle tops.