Want to Know Where to Recycle Your Bottle Caps?
Keep saving your lids for the next time you need to buy some more shampoo or lotion at Aveda. The company accepts all polypropylene (plastic #5) lids for recycling at its stores, which you can quickly search for using Earth911.com.
Did you know that bottle caps are generally a different type of plastic than the bottles themselves? Put down your water bottle for a second and flip it over. On the bottom, you’ll probably see a triangle with chasing arrows and a “1″ on the inside. That means that the bottle is polyethylene, a plastic generally accepted for recycling in most curbside and drop-off programs. But have you checked out the lid yet?
More than likely, the lid doesn’t have a number on it. Or, if it does, it’s a different number than the bottle itself. The problem with this is that, sometimes, your recycler may not accept this different plastic, and the lids end up getting sent to landfills in the recycling process.
You can determine if you have the right kind of plastic by checking to see if the lid is:
-
Bottle caps usually require a separate recycling process from the bottles themselves. Aveda recycles plastic#5 caps at its stores.
A twist top, or a cap with a threaded neck (think: shampoo, water, soda, milk)
- A flip-top cap from a tube or food product bottle (think: ketchup, mayonnaise)
- A laundry detergent or peanut butter lid
- Rigid and resistant to tears (think: can you bend or break the lid with your hands?)
The program doesn’t accept lids like yogurt lids, pharmaceutical lids, tub lids (like margarine or cottage cheese) and non-screw top lids.
Once collected, the caps are recycled and turned into new packaging for Aveda products, like hair color and shampoo.
Just think: by the simple act of saving your bottle caps and jar lids for your next trip to the mall, you’ll also end up saving valuable plastic from getting trashed and possibly prevent a marine animal from attempting to eat these colorful caps.
(Don’t have an Aveda near you? Whole Foods is another national retailer that is now collecting plastic #5 products.)
Jenae Finney
posted on January 16th, 2009 at 1:47 pm
Who do I send my bottle caps to then? to Aveda?
Jeffrey
posted on January 27th, 2009 at 10:50 am
Ya, goo question Jenae, were would we send our bottle caps? I live in a very rural area. No malls, (thank God and Goddess, or whoever you worship), this would be the best alternative vs. trashing it, and killing a marine animal’s life.
Why can - Q&A WIKI
posted on February 3rd, 2009 at 9:21 pm
[...] misspelling and bottle caps you should get it. ANSWER: The website for recycling the lids is: http://earth911.com/blog/2009/... Report Abuse ANSWER: They are made from a different, more rigid, type of plastic than the [...]
Elisa
posted on February 4th, 2009 at 11:41 am
THANKS for the questions!
Jennifer: What do you mean when you say: “…saving your bottle caps and jar lids for your next trip to the mall.” ? What do you mean??? Am I supposed to visit the shoe store, the book store, the sunglass hut….WHO or WHERE should I take the caps??? Someone else (not as dedicated to re-cycling) might read this and become VERY discouraged. People want to know specifics. They don’t have the time to read a ‘fun’ article titled “Want To Know Where To Recycle Your Bottlecaps?” that is inspiring but UN-informative! If they are at the site and have begun to read an article they are already inspired. They simply need specifics on WHERE to recycle or a phone number, at least!
In my experience, which is considerable, I have not found anyone at a mall telling me where to re-cycle bottlecaps. I certainly have not found anyone at the mall collecting recyclables!
Dawn
posted on February 4th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
Our school was told to collect bottle caps for a student who has cancer. It is supposed to help pay for chemo. But no one knows what to do with the large quantity we have collected. The source of the request has disappeared. Can you tell me where I can take these to be recycled? Anything would help – they are piling up fast because we all care about the student with cancer . . . I am located near Charlotte in NC.
Thank you!
Dawn
eric wood
posted on March 14th, 2009 at 4:27 pm
I need to start checking my caps out.
For those of you who are confused as to where you are supposed to recycle the #5 plastics in the caps, scroll to the top of the page, enter #5 plastic in the box for what you want to recycle and enter your location in the box for where, then click “search” All your options will be shown.
http://www.goinggreenaccidently.blogspot.com
Andrea Saddi
posted on March 27th, 2009 at 10:58 am
People think that recycling is not that important. but it really does something to help us survive in this world. What recycling does is it actually helps to make energy, or protects the envorinment. People don’t know this but actually it is the common habit of a daily life.
Renee Hicks
posted on April 1st, 2009 at 5:02 am
There is no such promotion that will turn caps into help paying for chemotherapy. This was a hoax on the internet for a long time. It was perpetuated by a story talking about caps for cancer, but upon further research, nothing came of it. As a cancer survivor of almost 2 years, I have looked into this and there is no such thing as saving caps for chemo. If there was, why wouldn’t everybody be doing it?
Aveda.com does have instructions about saving caps and sending the caps to them for use in shampoo bottles, etc. Check out their website for the info.
Brooke Wickham
posted on April 1st, 2009 at 2:33 pm
I tried several times to recycle plastic caps at Aveda stores, but there are no Aveda salons in Thurston or Pierce Counties in Washington state that participate in the recycling program. Aveda has a nice web page about recycling bottle caps, but since each salon can choose to participate or not, the recycling program is not really an option. The Aveda salons in my area in Olympia, Washington had not even heard about the cap recycling program. I sent several emails to Aveda to try to find a place to recycle the caps, but never heard back from them. It appears that the Aveda recycling program is just smoke and mirrors and sounds nice, but is not really functioning as a true recycling program, but as a public relations gimmick.
Brooke Wickham
posted on April 1st, 2009 at 4:14 pm
In case you cannot find an Aveda salon to bring your plastic caps to, if you live in the Western United States, you can send plastic caps to:
Distribution Center
Aveda Cap Program
Attention: Cesar Soto
475 West Apra Street
Rancho Dominguez CA 90220
I called the Aveda Corporate Headquarters after many unsuccessful email requests for help with finding a location near where I live for Aveda’s recycled cap program, and they kindly gave me the above address.
rita
posted on April 13th, 2009 at 6:46 am
thanx for the bottle cap info, however, was disappointed to read someone said the aveda’s she tried did not accept them. i will call the two i know of to inquire. rita m.
elaine
posted on April 22nd, 2009 at 6:40 am
I own an AVEDA salon in South Tampa, Florida. You can bring your bottle caps to us and we will distribute them to AVEDA for you. Visit us on Facebook for more information.
Courtney
posted on May 6th, 2009 at 8:17 am
To Eric above- no, typing in their search does not work. It shows the places that accept #5 plastics, which is very different from the CAPS. All the search results for my area don’t actually accept lids, but there is no way for this search engine to tell you that, I just know from checking their websites. And I tried typing in things with “cap” “lid” etc, but they don’t list that here.
Amanda
posted on May 18th, 2009 at 4:29 pm
Thanks for telling me where to send the caps! I am passonate about helping the enviroment!!!!!
Amanda
posted on May 19th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
Check out my website
http://savetheenviroment.groups.homepagenow.com
Menna
posted on June 16th, 2009 at 2:57 am
I always need to own a company that reciles in Ethiopia .But I can’t do it because of financial problems . Here where I live there are many throun waste materials that can be recicled ? Is there any one up there that can help me .
Elizabeth
posted on June 26th, 2009 at 9:02 pm
Does anyone know where I can recycle baby food lids?