Coca-Cola’s new bottle tries to solve the cap problem

Coca-Cola knows that the caps on its soft drinks often end up like garbage . So it is trying to solve the problem by connecting the cap to the bottle. The new model was launched in the UK.

Earlier this week, the British arm of the drinks company announced that it was putting new versions of the plastic bottles on the market. The packaging has a built-in lid – a design that should make it easy to recycling of the entire package at once, and thus keep the lids out of the trash.

According to the company, bottles of plastic UK brands Coke, Coke Zero Sugar, Diet Coke, Fanta, Sprite and Dr Pepper will have glued caps by early 2024. The transition only applies to UK bottles.

“It’s a small change that we hope to have a big impact on, ensuring that when consumers recycle our bottles, no caps are forgotten,” explained Jon Woods, General Manager of Coca-Cola Great Britain, in a statement Tuesday. thursday (17). Plastic waste is a huge problem for the environment. Plastics break down into microplastics, which end up in the air and oceans, harming marine life. With this, they can appear in our food or lungs, bringing potential health problems.

The issue is also a big public relations problem for companies like Coca-Cola. When the company’s bottles or caps appear on beaches or landfills, consumers recognize them as Coca-Cola products, which erodes the brand’s reputation. As a result, more companies are taking steps to try to reduce their waste.

The concern goes beyond reputations and the health of the planet: there is also the threat of government regulations. The European Union, for example, requires caps to be attached to some plastic bottles as part of its single-use plastics directive. Companies must comply with the rule by the end of 2024.

Coca-Cola’s latest move in the UK is part of its global “Waste-Free World” initiative, which sets a 2030 deadline to help collect and recycle empty bottles or cans sold by the company. In addition, it aims to make its cans and bottles from 50% recycled material by 2030 and make the packaging 100% recyclable by 2025.

Some environmentalists have criticized Coca-Cola’s efforts, saying they fall short.

“Regardless of whether the plastic caps are stuck, the company still produces billions of single-use plastic bottles every year, harming our environment, our communities and our climate, and impacting our health,” said Graham Forbes, world leader in plastics project at Greenpeace USA. Rather than focusing on recycling, an imperfect solution, many environmentalists advocate a shift to reusable containers.

“If they really want to solve the plastic and climate crisis, Coca-Cola must focus on reducing plastic by doubling its re-use and refill-use goal to 50% by 2030,” said Forbes.