Coca-Cola Germany begins the switchover of beverage caps and closures for PET bottles
From the beginning of November 2021, Coca-Cola in Germany will begin the gradual changeover to new caps on all single-use PET bottles. In doing so, Coca-Cola is implementing an EU requirement that plastic beverage caps on single-use bottles must remain on the bottle after opening by 3 July 2024. Coca-Cola is using the changeover as an opportunity to optimise the use of materials of the bottles as a whole. The company intends to save up to 1.37 grams of plastic per bottle with the new caps.
Changeover period of two and a half years
Coca-Cola is starting the changeover to the new closures early in order to meet the EU requirement in Germany by July 2024. The bottling plant in Dorsten will start in November 2021, followed by the non-refillable PET lines at the sites in Mannheim, Mönchengladbach, Hildesheim and Knetzgau in 2022. By January 2024, all German plants with single-use disposable PET lines will successively convert their production to the bottles with the new closures. To ensure a smooth process, this will happen in a maximum of five plants per year.
Due to the long-term changeover phase, for a while there will be single-use PET bottles with both the previous type of closure and the new closures on the market. In order to draw consumers’ attention to the new closures, the caps will be marked with the inscription “Lass mich dran!” (“Leave me on!”).
The previous opening mechanism does not change. The new closures will, however, remain connected to a part of the safety ring at the neck of the bottle. For comfortable consumption, the cap can be opened and closed easily and moved back and forth. In addition, it can be fixed in one position, to allow for easy pouring.
As before, the PET bottles with the new caps can also be handed in via reverse vending machines including the cap throughout Germany. Thanks to the deposit system, the valuable material can be collected and recycled.
