There is a lot of conflicting information out there
about recycling drink bottles. Do the caps stay on or do they get thrown away?
Should you wash out your bottles? What is the right way to recycle? Taylor
Stout, communications coordinator for the UMN Recycling Program, gave us some
insight into the bottle-recycling process.
Stout says, “We encourage people to leave the caps on! Leaving the cap on ensures
that any liquid in the bottle isn't spilled from the time the bottle is put
into the container to the time that we receive it at our facility. When we sort
the bottles, we place them through a perforator that splits the bottles open so
the liquids can be drained out before we bale them with the caps still on.”
The caps are definitely recyclable. Bales of shredded bottles are put in a
washing tank, and the bottle caps float to the top, where they’re skimmed off
and sent to a plant that can process polypropylene resins, the material the
caps are made out of. Taylor notes that “There are some losses as a result of
the perforator cracking the caps or caps that fall out of the bale during
storage but the losses aren't that significant.” She says,
“Currently, we're
looking for ways to better capture the cap pieces and put them back into a
polypropylene stream.”
As Stout mentioned above, bottles
are drained of liquids and washed at the processing facility. She says that it
is important to recycle as many bottles as possible, so go ahead and toss it in
the recycling bin whether it’s clean or dirty!
Other materials such as aluminum
foil containers must be rinsed, but this should be done in a way that doesn’t
waste too much water. Taylor says that the best way to do it is to use the
“grey water” from dishwashing. If you can’t do that, try to use cold water, and
lay off the soap. Try to use as little extra energy and water as possible when
recycling.
