How can I reuse or recycle plastic screw-top bottle caps?

water_bottle_cap.jpgWe’ve had an email from Am about bottle caps:

As we have a lot of plastic water bottles, and they are easy enough to recycle/reuse… but what about the screw-on bottle tops?

When they are recycled the council insist the lids are not included…and I hate to waste all those little lids.

I always keep a few spare ones in case I lose/drop-somewhere-rank the lid of a bottle I’m re-using. I’ve also used them (usually in pairs for stability) to add height when a plant pot sits too low in the planter – water bottle caps add about 1cm while milk bottle ones are a little wide and not as tall.

Anyone got any other suggestions?


76 Responses to “How can I reuse or recycle plastic screw-top bottle caps?”


  1. Kelly says:

    it’s better to skip the plastic bottles altogether! why not use a reusable bottle instead? =]

  2. Ash says:

    I always store a number of these. Uses:
    to hold small amounts of glue and cleaning substances when repairing items.
    to place ant or rodent detterent in.
    to fill with sugar and feed the slugs to help attract them away from your fav plants.
    to measure equal quantaties of concentrated liquids
    to hold small screws, buttons, pins etc when sewing or diy
    to turn upside down and glue to the bottom of housplant pots to give them a little extra ‘classy’ looking hight – enjoy:-)

  3. Louise says:

    Bottle tops recycled into cat bowls also good for small dogs too, just search Meltdown Eco Pet Bowl or visit http://www.wildstore.co.uk. At least some bottle tops are being recycled into something useful.



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