They are coming, they are here, but what's the big deal?
First - a little history.
The ring pull-tab
Honestly, this subject is a lot more interesting that you'd think!
If you're familiar with the 99% Invisible podcast, you'll be familiar with some of the unnoticed brilliance in design that surrounds us. The everyday objects where the design is looked over as the functionality required by us is perfect for the job at hand.
The aluminium beverage can is one such item. This post is not all about the design intricacies of the entire can - though if you are interested in that Bill Hammack (engineerguy on YouTube) has made a truly excellent video that will make you appreciate your next can!
There are many, many designs and patents that can be found online for the aluminium can.
One such example, US Patent 3,967,752 from 1975, is for an aluminium can in which the"tab and panel remain secured."The patent opens with the following statement regarding earlier design iterations:
severed tear strip with attached tab may be carelessly discarded with undesirable consequences, such as litter and a hazard to bare feet.
Interestingly, it also later discusses the benefits of moving towards mono-material designs for the objective of recycling and keeping valuable resources in circulation:
While some non-aluminous materials, such as steel, may permit design of a tab for this purpose which is all of one material, such an approach would be incompatible with the objective of recycling all-aluminum cans with non-detachable tabs.
Nonetheless, the earlier cans in which the tab completely pulls away from the can left the consumer with two items: the pull-tab and the can with the beverage they wanted. So what happened to the pull-tab?
Litter.
A lot of the time at least, enough that it was a problem. An article from the Financial Times in January of 1974 lambasted the "louts and barbarians" who distribute pull-off tabs across the Lake District, mountains of Wales, beaches of Cornwall, and amongst the seaweed and rocks after they started to become more common.[1]
The solution to pull-off tab littering was relatively simple, keep the tab attached to the can. In fact, an article in The Times from April 1967 questioned if we would soon see the end of the tin opener. It proclaimed that metal pull-off tabs are evolving into "all sorts of new shapes and forms".[2]
Obviously, simply attaching the two together will not necessarily stop those who litter from littering but it can reduce the number of individual items littered and make litter-pickers lives slightly easier (have you ever tried to pick up just a pull-tab using a litter picker? Not easy).
Skipping ahead a number of innovations and design iterations we arrive to today, with a pretty much standard design; though variants - including old opening designs - can still be found.
The tethered plastic cap
THEY ARE COMING. THEY ARE HERE.
You may have already seen them. Many already existed on common sport energy drinks or other bottles but more will likely come since the EU passed its single-use plastics directive in July 2019: EU2019/904. The precise shape, size, form, and overall design of those you see may well be different.
This arises from the point on product requirements for EU2019/904:
Article 6 Product requirements
Member States shall ensure that single-use plastic products listed in Part C of the Annex that have caps and lids made of plastic may be placed on the market only if the caps and lids remain attached to the containers during the products’ intended use stage.
PART C Single-use plastic products covered by Article 6(1) to (4) on product requirements
Beverage containers with a capacity of up to three litres, i.e. receptacles used to contain liquid, such as beverage bottles including their caps and lids and composite beverage packaging including their caps and lids, but not:
(a) glass or metal beverage containers that have caps and lids made from plastic,
(b) beverage containers intended and used for food for special medical purposes as defined in point (g) of Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No 609/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council(27) that is in liquid form.
The above is due to take effect from the beginning of July 2024. It is also important to point out this will apply only to single-use plastic beverage containers up to 3L in capacity in the EU.
The attachment requirements must be defined within the context of "during the products' intended use stage." Subsequently, a request was made to the CEN (European Committee for Standardization) to develop a test method and requirements for demonstrating that plastic caps will indeed stay attached.
A number of requirements were developed and published on the 30th May 2023 in the Official Journal of the European Union. Therein it referenced: EN 17665:2022+A1:2023, Packaging – Test methods and requirements to demonstrate that plastic caps and lids remain attached to beverage containers. This was transposed by The British Standards Institution also.
It includes requirements relating to strength of the attachement, its reliability, and safety. For example, having a minimum tensile resistance force of 25 Newtons and being able to withstand at least 15 open/close cycles.
In short: if you can pass the testing, you have satisfied the requirements.
So what?
Despite the UK leaving the EU, the sheer scale of bottle & cap production means it is more likely that instead of having two separate production lines - one for the EU and one for the UK or elsewhere - there will be one production line producing beverage containers with tethered caps. These will inevitably supply multiple markets, either voluntarily or as similar legislation is passed, so will nonetheless be seen on the UK market.
Pulling together the evolution in design of the pull-tab on beverage cans and the new tethered cap requirements relating to plastic caps and lids shows how these changes take time to implement, properly.
The bottle and cap are not always made from the same type of plastic either, owing to necessities on the strength of connection between bottle and cap depending on the beverage within. Milk bottles in the UK are typically HDPE with an HDPE lid, milk is typically a flat beverage (unless you're some sort of monster) so at ambient pressure. Unlike fizzy drinks it also includes a seal - mostly for product safety and to prevent leakage. Fizzy drinks, more frequently in PET bottles, may also have an HDPE cap and must withstand the internal pressure from carbonation. Hence they are usually 'taller' to provide a greater securing force.
See the below for reference, including one of these new fangled tethered caps.
Innovation is already occurring in this space with respect to design and has been for decades - but small iterations, likely unnoticed by the consumer. The issue now is that it's a big and noticeable change! This will keep happening until normalisation has once again occurred with a variety of designs already available.
It was recently announced that tethered PET caps will soon hit the market, making an all-PET bottle. Ordinarily HDPE caps and PET bottles would be density separated (HDPE floats, PET sinks) but now the entire piece can be recycled together. If as per the article image the caps remain clear then there are further benefits regarding recyclate quality owing to lack of pigmentation - similar thinking to the above referenced aluminium patent regarding 'all-aluminium' cans. Though to be more accurate, aluminium cans typically contain a polymer liner and of course various printing inks, so all is used maybe a tad loosely.
Regardless, the incoming of tethered caps has been known about for a while and innovation is already happening regarding its design and material composition. Overall, the tethering will have minimal impact on user experience, he says ...
In the news
There have been many complaints about the initial designs already on social media and in the news about how the EU has ruined the plastic waster bottle or that they are the worst thing in modern britain or that they hate them.
We need clear, robust and fit for purpose requirements to ensure a level playing field and these constraints need to be a hindrance. Creativity thrives in a box, after all. With the constraints set regarding requirements for staying attached, we have a level field for design innovation.
It will take time. Change takes time. Innovation takes time. Eventually we settled into a relatively low cost but nonetheless functional design that is ubiquitous on cans and looking forward I envisage similar for the plastic bottle. This is just one of many small steps to take towards a Circular Economy and to incentivise everyone to do the right thing.
The likes of a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) is another slightly larger step to incentivise the consumer to return containers; noting this is not a new idea and was once common in the UK.
It was reported The Daily Mail in January 1980 that a Bill to outlaw beer & soft drinks cans with pull tabs was to be introduced. The Bill also included provisions to place a compulsory refundable deposit on all drinks bottles - though this did not materialise.[3] Now, DRS in the UK, initially announced in 2018, has once again been delayed, to launch October 2027. This delay does include a provision of what should occur if a UK-wide interoperable DRS is not launched but packaging Extended Producer Responsibility has taken effect, just in case. More and more nations are implementing such measures and we will see this return in the UK. DRS may also be a step towards using more refillable beverage containers too.
Conclusion
Redesign of beverage containers to attach individual packaging components is a way to stop the proliferation of items from being dispersed when littered, but the issue of potential littering and single-use items remains. Improved design must be combined with incentivisation to return the containers plus reuse & refill. Everyone along the value chain - producers, brands, retailers, and consumers - must align on this.
In the meantime, attached caps really are not that much a nuisance and designs will likely improve. If they don't maybe try rotating the bottle for now ...
References
Joe, Joe. "Disposing of Throwaway Cans-forever." Financial Times, 22 Jan. 1974, p. 25. Financial Times Historical Archive, link.gale.com/apps/doc/HS2303822256/GDCS?u=loughuni&sid=bookmark-GDCS&xid=b4606419. Accessed 17 May 2024.
"The end of the tin opener?" Times, 29 Apr. 1967, p. 19. The Times Digital Archive, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CS319515805/GDCS?u=loughuni&sid=bookmark-GDCS&xid=6cfed678. Accessed 17 May 2024.
"Can can't." Daily Mail, 31 Jan. 1980, p. 9. Daily Mail Historical Archive, link.gale.com/apps/doc/EE1861908978/GDCS?u=loughuni&sid=bookmark-GDCS&xid=c19f061c. Accessed 17 May 2024.
Bibliography
Normalising bottle return and reuse: lessons from the Victorians on the limits of voluntary schemes by Tom Licence. Published 30th January 2020. On historyandpolicy.org.
The EU has ruined plastic water bottles by Ross Clark. Published 14th May 2024. On spectator.co.uk.
Archaeology of Pull Tabs by Jobbe Wijnen. First published 2019, revised January 2020. On pulltabarchaeology.com.
The history of the beverage can and pull tabs by user coinman123. Published on 26th July 2015. On treasurenet.com.
Connected closures are key in combatting plastic litter. Published 13th February 2024. On sustainableplastics.com.
Goodbye screw caps - Hello tethered closures - Inside Packaging Issue 67. Published March 2023.
Seal in safety: recalls push product security - Inside Packaging Issue 38. Published January 2018.
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