Why are caps attached to bottles? The European Union demands it, and for good reason

Fixed nuts are becoming more common. This relatively new solution means that the bottle can be unscrewed without any problems, but the “cork” remains on the packaging. This is not a new trend on the beverage market, but an EU requirement. A year ago, the SUP (Single Use Plastics) Act was introduced in Poland, which is intended to limit the impact of certain plastic products on the environment.

Why are caps attached to bottles? The European Union requires it

The new law assumes, among other things, that from mid-2024, all plastic caps must be factory-attached to the beverage packaging, regardless of whether it is in a bottle or carton. Although the regulations introduce the requirement only from July this year, many entrepreneurs have already taken appropriate adjustment actions.

For example, the water producer Żywiec-Zdrój boasted that their bottles are 100 percent recyclable (including the cap and label). – We believe that this will significantly improve the recycling efficiency of all packaging elements, so there is no need to delay the implementation of the solution – explained Paulina Kaczmarek, head of the sustainable development department in the Danone group of companies. In fact, already in 2019, Żywiec-Zdrój introduced the first bottle made of 100 percent recycled. Because this is what it’s all about.

Bottle caps pose a threat to the environment

The Żywiec-Zdrój water producer describes that until now, if a cap was thrown away separately from the bottle into the plastic bin, it passed through a sieve into the fine fraction in the sorting plant. “As a result, the cap – fully recyclable – was not recovered and the raw material was lost. By permanently attaching it to the bottle, it will have a chance to be recycled along with the entire packaging,” we read on the website.

So far, no effective and cost-effective method has been developed that would enable easy recovery of plastic from the caps themselves. However, other technology has moved forward and for several years now every PET bottle recycling line has been prepared to process them with caps. Moreover, the European Union emphasized in the directive itself that caps and lids are among the single-use plastic articles most often found on beaches in the Community countries.

Collecting bottle caps

Some people probably wonder what will happen to the containers where plastic caps were often collected. They will probably disappear soon because they are no longer as needed as they once were. They were intended to have a positive impact on the environment. And they actually caused garbage trucks to stop transporting “air”, because bottles without caps were easier to crush and took up less space in the truck.

On the other hand, involvement in campaigns had its not very ecological side effect. In many cities, there are baskets for caps in which the lids are placed. However, residents brought them by car, which resulted in additional CO2 emissions. Moreover, experts calculated that the carbon footprint when collecting hearts with caps and transporting them to the recycler is also larger than that resulting from tons of waste transported in one transport to the sorting plant by professional collection companies.

Most of us, however, collected caps not to help the environment but to help the sick. Unfortunately, it turned out to be more difficult than expected. A kilogram of plastic caps costs from 40 groszy to approximately PLN 1. This means that you need several or several dozen tons of them to be able to purchase a wheelchair or rehabilitation equipment. Meanwhile, one heart, located in cities, contains only 100-150 kg of caps. However, soon the “caps” will become a thing of the past and this campaign will expire completely. There are still a few months left to collect the last caps and throw them into metal hearts.