‘No caps left behind’ on drink containers from next month

If you recently purchased a refreshing beverage in a plastic bottle, you may have struggled slightly to take a drink.

The cap, somewhat annoyingly, might have gotten in your way, because it did not detach on opening.

Any little dribble you have experienced as a result goes right back to the EU’s Single Use Plastics Directive.

The latest requirement of the directive means all plastic bottle caps have to be tethered to bottles.

According to a Department of the Environment Climate and Communications spokesperson, the new tethering system applies to all beverage containers (bottles, cartons and pouches) up to three litres in size.

“A significant volume of caps are separated from their containers after use.. and caps which are placed in recycling bins tend to be too small and too light for recycling sorting equipment to handle and typically end up as non-recycled residual waste.

“Caps account for about 15% of packaging litter, according to latest litter data published by the National Litter Pollution Monitoring System.”

The spokesperson added that caps and particularly the seal rings attached to them, are also harmful to wildlife.

By preventing the separation of the cap from the container, caps are collected and recycled in far greater numbers, reducing environmental pollution, they said.

The EU’s Single-Use Plastics (SUP) Directive aims to reduce unintended environmental plastic waste and has already led to the banning of many single use items such as plastic coffee stirrers, plastic cotton buds and plastic plates.

It is also behind this year’s introduction of the Deposit Return Scheme for plastic bottles.

Under the SUP Directive, all plastic bottle tops and lids have to be attached to the bottles from 3 July.

The Directive states products with plastic lids “may be placed on the market only if the lids and caps remain attached to the containers during the products’ intended end use stage.”

In Ireland, many drinks manufacturers have already complied with the requirement which has led to the redesign of bottle caps, to include an additional plastic strip that makes if far more difficult to detach them.

Among those companies is Ballygowan Water, which is now owned by drinks giant Britvic.

A spokesperson said they hoped the new tethered caps will have a positive environmental impact.

“All Ballygowan products being produced now have tethered caps, in preparation for the EU legislation coming into force in July.

“We hope that this packaging change, twinned with Ireland’s Deposit Return Scheme, will help reduce littering and increase the amount of packaging recycled.”

Another international brand and dominant player in the Irish beverage market that has introduced the tethered caps is Coca Cola.

Agnese Filippi, country manager with Coca-Cola Ireland said: “The introduction of attached caps across our entire portfolio will ensure that the cap gets collected with the bottle for recycling.

“This small change has the potential to have a big impact, ensuring that consumers recycle our bottles, and no cap gets left behind.”

While some qualified products remain on sale without having their caps tethered on, over the next few weeks that will have to change under the law.

It seems tethered caps are here to stay, and it is up to consumers to adjust accordingly.