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Loading...15 Ways to Reuse Plastic Bottle Caps
- Becky Striepe
- May 15, 2012
- 5:05 pm
- 150 comments
Heading to the recycle bin to toss a plastic bottle? Did you know that in many places, you can’t recycle the cap?
Bottle caps are made from #5 plastic, which many municipalities do not recycle. That means that even if you can recycle or reuse your plastic bottle, you can’t toss the cap into the recycle bin.
Even if you are able to recycle those plastic bottle caps, recycling plastic is very inefficient. When you recycle plastic what you’re actually doing is called downcycling. Each time plastic goes through the recycling process, you end up with a lower and lower grade of plastic. Eventually, that plastic is of such poor quality that it’s headed straight to the landfill, where it doesn’t biodegrade. For plastic, the recycling center is just a pit stop on the way to the landfill.
Many people don’t know that they can’t recycle plastic bottle caps, and when you toss a bottle with the cap on into the recycling, it can cause problems at the recycling center. According to Earth911:
“The simple act of leaving a cap on the bottle has also traditionally created problems at the sorting facility. When bottles are crushed for shipment, caps can shoot off at high speeds, causing a safety hazard for recycling workers. Or if the bottles aren’t crushed but caps are left on, the bottles retain air and take up too much space, meaning fewer bottles can be transported for recycling.“
That’s no good at all! If you’re not craft-minded, reusing bottle caps might not be high on your to do list. Luckily, there are some resources for recycling those suckers. Check out the next page for deets!
Next>> Resources for Recycling Bottle Caps
Creative Commons photo by stevendepolo
Read more: Crafts & Design, Crafts & Hobbies, Green Home Decor, Home, Reduce, Recycle & Reuse, Surprising uses for ..., crafty reuse, creative reuse, DIY, plastic cap crafts, plastic crafts, plastic recycling, recycle plastic bottle caps, reuse
Becky Striepe
Becky Striepe is a freelance writer and vegan crafter living in Atlanta, Georgia. Her life’s mission is to make green crafting and vegan food accessible to everyone! Like this article? You can follow Becky on Twitter or find her on Facebook!
Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may
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people are talking
Very interesting idea.
This is pushing it. It is abrasive to teeth and plumbing. as well as corrosive .Also can burn tissue…
congrats to the winners!
Thank you.
Interesting...
150 comments
+ add your ownGreat ideas.Thanks for sharing
cool thanks! going to try some of these!
I like the ornaments. Thanks.
Many Aveda (hair) Salons will also recycle bottle caps......I recycle there or Whole Foods.....
Intriguing but there are only so many crafty things one can fill one's small living space with before it looks somewhat tacky to say the least. It is one thing if there are children who can invent a variety of colourful uses for these things but I can't say that there are many real uses that this junk can make to my life. One would think that the people designing these things would find a better material to use if this stuff can't be recycled well. Plastic is over used in the world.
What do you with the prescription bottle and tops??
Very cool! *_*
Thanks for the tips who would have thought
I use mine as toys for my cat, she just loves throwing them all over the place
Thanks for the tips
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