Why All the Fuss About Tethered Closures?

There’s been a lot said recently about the “ridiculous” new closures on beverages that get in the way when you drink from the bottle. People complain that they squash against our cheek or chin, or literally get up your nose. And why are they only on some products and not others? Why did manufacturers have to change something that worked perfectly well before?

Why Tethered Caps Were Introduced

There are a host of reasons why tethered closures were introduced and why they are a good idea, but the root cause is one that is normally whispered behind closed doors... it actually boils down to the great British public and LITTER. In a survey conducted by the EU, beverage bottle lids were one of the most common pieces of litter on European beaches, comprising of 10% of all items found.

EU Regulations Were Updated

To respond to this, the EU introduced the Single Use Plastics Directive (SUP) in July 2021 which states “plastic caps must remain attached after opening on all single use plastic beverage containers of up to three litres from July 2024 onwards”.

Now you might say ‘that’s Europe, why are we getting them here?’ and there are two answers to that. Firstly, because of the Windsor Accord, Northern Ireland will have to conform to the SUP Directive because of the open border with the Irish Republic. Secondly firms cannot afford to create multiple SKUs (that is multiple versions of the saleable unit) because it makes the products more expensive. Also they cannot afford to use different packaging in different countries as this would mean increased cost in manufacture, storage and distribution. The simplest way is to make the same product for all countries and keep the cost to the consumer down.

Tethered Caps Require Less Plastic to Make

One major advantage of this change is that numerous manufacturers have seized the opportunity to design these new tethered closures with less plastic, in both the closure and bottle neck. 

Additionally, the tether provides a solution for ensuring that these frequently discarded caps can be easily collected and recycled. Many people are unaware of the valuable plastics used in bottle caps, such as Polypropylene (PP) and Polyethylene (PE). Sadly, even if these closures end up in a recycling system without being attached to a bottle, they often do not get recycled. During the initial stage of the recycling process, items are sifted through a trommel (a rotating sieve) to filter out dirt, stones, and other impurities from the stream. Unfortunately, the average beverage closure is typically too small to be caught by the trommel. The size of the holes in the trommel is between 40mm square to 50mm square, meaning a typical bottle cap will fall through, leading them to be sent for energy recovery or end up in a landfill.

Tethered Caps Are More Likely to Get Recycled

If closures remain attached to the bottle then it is easy for recyclers to recover the material. The first step at a recycler is to grind up the bottle to small flakes so the flakes of cap and bottle materials will be mixed up but separate. The next step is to wash the flakes and as both PP and PE have a density lower than 1.0 they will float. Beverage bottles are made from Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) which has a density greater than 1.0 so it sinks. That way recyclers can easily separate the materials into separate streams, capturing the closure material for recycling.

Yes, these new closures are a change but with a little practice you won’t get them caught on your nose. What you will be doing is reducing litter, using less plastic, and making sure it gets recycled, all very positive steps towards a circular economy.

Author

Brian Lodge, BPF Director of Plastic and Flexible Packaging

*Please note that this article is not a press release. Do not use on your own website unless given specific permission from the author.