Should you recycle glass jars with lids on?
Ultimately, you are welcome to leave lids on the glass jars and bottles that you place into your single stream recycling. The updated, state-of-the-art recycling processes currently in place will more than handle the mixed commodities at the processing level.
Not removing caps or lids from glass bottles/jars — most people leave caps or lids on glass bottles and jars but they should actually be removed, a) because it makes it easier to recycle the glass and b) the caps or lids won't actually get recycled when they're mixed in with glass.
Please remove all lids from glass bottles and jars before putting them in your mixed recycling bin. The lids from glass bottles and jars can't be recycled with the rest of your recycling, as some are made of a combination of metal and plastic.
Remove metal lids (including lids with a rubber seal) and recycle as a separate item in your blue cart. Put decorative mason jars that aren't intended for food storage in your black cart as garbage (paint, glue and other decorative materials cannot be recycled).
You can recycle all types of jars lids as long as they're not black.
There's no need to wash or crush your recyclables. Just separate your aluminum, glass, and plastic containers in different bags or bins, and head for the recycling center. And again, if you need more info, be sure to read our Frequently Asked Questions.
Note: Drinking glasses, glass objects, and window glass cannot be placed with recyclable glass because they have different chemical properties and melt at different temperatures than the recyclable bottles and containers. Broken drinking glass goes into the trash stream.
Jam jars can be recycled using your local council's kerbside recycling bin, bag or box and at your local Household Waste Recycling Centre. It's useful if they are empty and rinsed and please leave lids on. GLASS FACTS: Lots of glass items can be recycled including glass bottles and jars.
- Rinse bottles/jars. They don't need to be spotlessly clean; a quick rinse is fine. ...
- Put lids back on (these are removed and recycled during the sorting process)
- Remove corks- natural ones can be home composted if you do this.
- At the bottle bank, put blue glass into the green bin.
Disposal Fee: $5.00 Minimum / up to 48 gallons This item is not recyclable. Because glass in a canning/mason jar is created to withstand high heat, they do not melt down easily with glass in beer bottles or pickle jars. What Can I Bring? What Can't I Bring?
How do you dispose of old mason jars?
Most communities accept glass jars at the curb or at local recycling centers. Even if they do not, reuse ideas abound, so you should have no trouble keeping your glass jars out of landfills and incinerators.
Plastic lids without wax coatings are recyclable, as are metal lids. However, Pyrex cannot be recycled due to the methods that are used in the manufacturing process. And you should remove the lids from plastic and metal containers, but there's no need to remove them from glass containers.

Labels and Recycling
However, most local recycling centers do not require that you remove labels from a product prior to tossing it in a recycling bin. Heat during the recycling process ensures that paper labels, ink, and excess glue are burned away from containers, whether they are cans, glass, or plastic bottles.
Can Canning Lids Be Recycled? Yes, most canning lids can be recycled. As long as they've been properly cleaned and separated from the jar, metal lids are commonly accepted by most recycling programs.
Plastic peanut butter jars are accepted in curbside recycling or at the drop-off locations listed below. Jars should be empty and dry. Jars do not need to be spotless, but the majority of food should be cleaned from the jar. Soaking the jar in water is a good way to loosen stuck-on food.
Question: Can I recycle red or blue solo cups? Answer: Solo cups are made out of number six plastic called polystyrene, the same type of plastic that toys, and Styrofoam are made out of. In Western Massachusetts, our local recycling facility does not accept this type of plastic.
Would you be surprised if these two questions have exactly the same answer? Plastic milk bottles can be recycled through a closed loop process – this means that the milk bottle you put in your recycling bin can be part of a new bottle!
Plastic lids without wax coatings are recyclable, as are metal lids. However, Pyrex cannot be recycled due to the methods that are used in the manufacturing process. And you should remove the lids from plastic and metal containers, but there's no need to remove them from glass containers.
Glass can be recycled endlessly by crushing, blending, and melting it together with sand and other starting materials. Doing so benefits manufacturers, the environment, and consumers. Yet each year only one-third of the roughly 10 million metric tons of glass that Americans throw away is recycled.
Run hot water over the lid. The water may loosen the lid to some degree. Combine this tip with a gripping device if the lid will still not open. Use latex dish-washing gloves if no other item is available.
How do you recycle glass pan lids?
You can bring the lids along with the other cookware for recycling. There's no reason to have them piled up in your cabinets if you can't use them. Most likely, your cookware lids are either made of stainless steel, tempered glass, copper, or pre-seasoned cast iron.