Berry and Coca-Cola collaborate to implement tethered caps in EU markets
After winning a prestigious sustainability award at Pack Expo International last month for this circular solution, Berry Global Group, Inc. is the first plastic packaging manufacturer in Europe to supply The Coca-Cola Company with a lightweight, tethered closure for its carbonated soft drinks in PET bottles. Bolstered by the European Union (EU) Single-Use Plastics Directive, Berry’s new tethered closure for Coca-Cola is designed to remain intact with the bottle – making it less likely to be littered and more likely to be recycled.
Over 400 million closures have been successfully applied to date on Coca-Cola bottling lines in Germany, Spain, and the UK, with the rollout to continue to the company’s other European plants.
EU Directive 2019/204 requires plastic beverage bottles up to 3 litres in size to have closures that remain attached to the container throughout their intended use from July 2024. And this collaboration helps progress Coca-Cola’s goal to make 100% of its packaging recyclable globally by 2025.
Maintaining a convenient and comfortable user experience, in addition to product safety and security, Berry’s new tethered closure for Coca-Cola features a special tamper-evident band that, once broken, does not impact the closure’s ability to remain attached and is positioned out of the way for drinking but can easily be reclosed. When open, it provides a wide angle for easy access to the beverage and comfortable on-the-go drinking.
Berry’s closure for Coca-Cola is based on its patented CompactFlip hinge solution. It is the first to be used in conjunction with the new lightweight 26mm GME30.40 neck, developed by the Cetie (The International Technical Centre for Bottling) Single-Use Plastics Group, of which Berry is a member. The new neck finish is claimed to deliver an over 1g saving in PET compared to the current PCO-1881 neck. Combined with a 10% weight reduction from the Berry closure, the new pack is now around 20% lighter than the PCO-1881 version, says Berry.
