recyclenow gives the general guidelines for what to do during kerbside recycling in the UK: "Metal lids and caps on glass containers, e.g. metal jam jar lids, can be left on to recycle with glass. These are different types of metal to cans/tins/aerosols and are recycled in a different way. By putting the lids/caps back on glass jars and bottles it reduces the chance of them getting lost through the sorting process."
However, it is better to check with your council. On a quick search, I already found many council websites that differ from this guideline:
- Southampton city council - "please remove the lids, corks and tops (and put these in your normal general waste bin)"
- Lewisham - "You can recycle the lids of glass and plastic bottles, but please remove them first."
- West Sussex - "Please take metal lids off the glass bottle or jar and place loose in your recycling bin."
- Forest of Dean - "Glass bottles and jars (remove lids, caps and corks - to go into the other recycling box)"
