---
title: "Where do Plastic bottle caps go? Kerbside recycling bin"
description: "Leave the cap on the empty bottle. That is now the standard advice in most places. Why that route, what goes wrong on the wrong one, and how to prepare it."
url: https://atoneplace.net/where-does-it-go/bottle-caps/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Where do Plastic bottle caps go?

**Where do Plastic bottle caps go?: Leave the cap on the empty bottle. That is now the standard advice in most places.**

Kerbside recycling bin

Loose caps are too small to be sorted — they fall through screens and are lost — which is why the old advice was to take them off, and why the current advice is the opposite: squash the bottle, screw the cap back on, and both travel together to a plant that separates the polypropylene cap from the PET body by density in a float tank. Tethered caps on EU bottles are designed around exactly this. Metal caps from glass bottles are a different case and go loose with metals or, better, collected in a steel can that is crimped shut. A few councils still ask for caps to be removed, so the local instruction wins over the general one.

## How to prepare it

1. Squash the bottle, then screw the cap back on.
2. Empty and drain the bottle first.

## What not to do

- Never put loose small caps in the bin on their own; they are lost through the screens.

> Kerbside collection rules genuinely vary by council and county, and local rules always win over general guidance. The reasoning above is what transfers — if your service differs, it will usually be for a reason described here.

## Other things that go to kerbside recycling bin

- [Pizza boxes](https://atoneplace.net/where-does-it-go/pizza-boxes/) — Recyclable if the card is only greasy; not if it is soaked or has food stuck to it. Tear off the clean lid if in doubt.
- [Aerosol cans](https://atoneplace.net/where-does-it-go/aerosols/) — Empty aerosols go in the kerbside recycling in most areas. Never pierce them, never crush them, never bin a part-full one.
- [Wrapping paper](https://atoneplace.net/where-does-it-go/wrapping-paper/) — Plain paper: recycle. Foil, plastic-coated or glittery: general waste. The scrunch test settles it.
- [Drinks cartons (Tetra Pak)](https://atoneplace.net/where-does-it-go/cartons/) — Recyclable, but only where your scheme says so — they need a mill that separates the card from the plastic and foil.
- [Aluminium foil and foil trays](https://atoneplace.net/where-does-it-go/foil/) — Recyclable if it is clean. Scrunch it into a ball the size of a fist so the sorters can see it.
- [Shredded paper](https://atoneplace.net/where-does-it-go/shredded-paper/) — Depends entirely on your council. Loose shreds jam sorting lines; where they are accepted it is usually bagged or in food waste.
- [Envelopes with plastic windows](https://atoneplace.net/where-does-it-go/envelopes-windows/) — Kerbside paper recycling in most areas — modern pulping screens the window out.
- [Black plastic food trays](https://atoneplace.net/where-does-it-go/black-plastic-trays/) — Historically rejected because the optical sorter could not see them. Increasingly accepted now — check your council.

## Common questions

### Where do Plastic bottle caps go?

Leave the cap on the empty bottle. That is now the standard advice in most places.

### What happens if you put Plastic bottle caps in the wrong bin?

Never put loose small caps in the bin on their own; they are lost through the screens.

## Related pages

- [Where do Pizza boxes go?](https://atoneplace.net/where-does-it-go/pizza-boxes/)
- [Where do Aerosol cans go?](https://atoneplace.net/where-does-it-go/aerosols/)
- [Where do Wrapping paper go?](https://atoneplace.net/where-does-it-go/wrapping-paper/)
- [Where do Drinks cartons (Tetra Pak) go?](https://atoneplace.net/where-does-it-go/cartons/)
- [Where do Aluminium foil and foil trays go?](https://atoneplace.net/where-does-it-go/foil/)
- [Where do Shredded paper go?](https://atoneplace.net/where-does-it-go/shredded-paper/)
- [Where do Household batteries (AA, AAA, C, D, 9V) go?](https://atoneplace.net/where-does-it-go/batteries/)
- [Where do Lithium-ion batteries go?](https://atoneplace.net/where-does-it-go/lithium-batteries/)
- [Where do Vapes and disposable e-cigarettes go?](https://atoneplace.net/where-does-it-go/vapes/)
- [Where do Medicines and tablets go?](https://atoneplace.net/where-does-it-go/medicines/)
- [Where do Leftover wet paint go?](https://atoneplace.net/where-does-it-go/paint-wet/)
- [Where do Mobile phones go?](https://atoneplace.net/where-does-it-go/mobile-phones/)

## Sources

- US Environmental Protection Agency — EPA (https://www.epa.gov/) [Public domain (US Government)]