11mo ago

Tethered plastic caps

I know they're supposed to be good for the environment. But... Holy smokes they drive me up the wall. They really do!

I had no trouble adapting when aluminum can pull-tabs got replaced by push-tabs, because it was pretty much the same movement, and I could see the immediate advantage of not getting cut by a pull-tab.

But the tethered cap is fighting decades of muscle memory in me: I'm used to taking the cap off with one hand and keeping it there while taking a swig with the other. Now I unscrew the cap with one hand, but I still have to hold the cap so it's out of the way. It feels like drinking in handcuffs each and every time...

So unlike the pull-tab, the tethered plastic bottle cap is one of those compulsory eco solutions that constantly make you feel ever-so-slightly more miserable all the time, and I hate that because ecology only works when it brings something of value both to people and to the environment.

211 comments

To all companies
just stop using plastic
- To governments:
  Plastic tax.
- EU Directive 2019/904
  Under the Directive, drinks will only be allowed to be sold in plastic containers if the cap remains attached to the container
  
  Funnily enough that directive talks about sustainability, reduction of single use plastics and whatnot. And connected bottle cap is there as a stop gap measure to prevent ocean pollution. But manufacturers stuck to that as be all end all solution. The rest of the directive be damned.
- My city is awesome and recently decided to just stop recycling glass. You know, because we love plastic and why would we want to reward companies who use glass, the much easier thing to reuse and recycle.
  
  It's very hard to have glass in single-stream recycling. Glass inevitably shatters and gets mixed with tiny bits of paper making it worse than new glass and really increases the work required for the whole recycling process. It's great to recycle in a dual-stream system, but if you can put your glass and paper in the same bin, it's about as difficult to recycle as plastic is.
  
  Snap!
- Why would they? There's no financial reason for them to do so. Whatever they do, you are to blame for consuming. It's not them wrapping everything in plastic it's you who didn't recycle. Screw the fact there is no recycling containers around where you live.
  
  It’s also not practical at all. Plastic is amazing for food handling due to the way it forms airtight seals so easily.
  
  Lol too true
- What would you suggest they use instead?
  
  Right? What other possible materials could they use? Prior to plastic, we just cupped our hands and had people pour beverages into them, or directly into our mouths.
  Plastics have been revolutionary in keeping our hands and faces from getting sticky. I, for one, refuse to go back to the days of sucking off the tap.
  
  There are a few things they could try. You can get biodegradable bottles, you could use glass or metal, there are cardboard bottles and silicon and even ceramic.
  You could also change the way we buy these drinks from bottles we buy and throw away to containers we keep and refill from dispensers. The infrastructure isn't there for it, but with the amount of money the major drinks companies make its not unreasonable to assume they could afford to implement it.
  And arguing that these alternatives are not practical is a wasted effort because an alternative IS needed to stop mass plastic waste and protect the environment so we need to get used to the bar being set at a different height.
  
  Glass bottles with pop tops
  
  Hollowed tree trunk
- Hey it's that simple, just stop using plastic. Lol

Plastic needs to die. There's no point in designing a cap that goes into recycling reliably when we know recycling plastic just gets dumped in third world countries.
- PET bottles are actually the most recycled or their plastic upcycled. But yeah, needs to die.
  
  Maybe, but PET still contributes to the microplastics problem and I wouldn't be surprised if the recycling process adds more PET microplastics to the atmosphere so they can be carried around the planet.
  
  Yeah, PET is great for recycling.
  Here, 87% of all PET bottles are recycled.
- I don't understand why soft drinks are even sold in plastic bottles anymore. Cans work perfectly fine. Sure you might want to re-seal the lid or something but if that's the case just buy a reusable drink container.
  
  plastic is cheap i guess?
  
  Aluminum cans are great but still use a plastic lining, so I'm not sure overall whether it comes out better. You still get microplastics.

Easy solution: only buy drinks in aluminum cans or glass bottles. World is already drowning in microplastic pollution.
- Microplastic is mostly tires and fishing nets so tax those first I think.
  
  Um, aren't tires like 99.9% rubber?
- Sorry but that doesn't work. Just 5% of the community does it and everybody else doesn't care. Laws need to be passed.
- Surely making aluminum and glass cans isn't good for the environment either is it?
  
  Making brand new ones from raw sand/ore isn't great when you consider the need to mine and refine those into something useable. Lots of energy and effort goes into that part. The difference is that glass and aluminum are essentially infinitely recyclable, while plastic is often not. It takes way less effort and minimal input of new resources to recycle a glass bottle. Hell, with a robust bottle return system you can skip over the recycling part entirely - just send them back to the bottling facility to be cleaned and refilled.
  
  Well, glass bottles can be washed and reused. The beer industry does this as standard practice.
  Glass and aluminum are easier to recycle. Actually recycling these two materials are an order of magnitude easier and cheaper than new material.
  Plastic can be recycled, but has a faster degradation rate and the infrastructure isn't present on the scale of glass and aluminum.
  
  Aluminum and glass are natural and just use heat and presses to renew and transform into desired forms.
  Plastic takes a lot more processing and isn't readily recyclable.
- Easy solution: limit yourself to a subset of the market and alter your behavior throughout your life.
- I wish there was more water sold in those little milk boxes or aluminum cans.

I'm so fucking tired.
It's estimated the fishing industry is losing around 400 metric tonnes of fishing gear into Norwegian waters every year.
Now we are punished for this by attaching the stupid caps to the bottles. Why are we not able to fix problems in this society hellbent for self destruction?
Why are every problem pushed down on the working class just wanting to enjoy a soda in this capitalistic hellscape.
- Attaching the caps to the bottles fixes a problem.
  The lost fishing gear is another problem.
  Fixing one will not fix the other. Fixing one helps. Fixing both helps more.
  
  So. In Norway we have this great system for returning used bottles for cash. We get 0.2$ for a 0.5 liter bottle. People are returning the bottle with the cap on. Seeing bottle caps laying around isn't a thing.
  Instead of attaching the cap to the bottle. Make a return system for the bottles. People are not systematically seperating the bottle and the cap as the cap keeps the sugary residue left inside the bottle in place instead of in the bag you carry them with to the store for returning them for that sweet cash.
  Attaching the cap is a solution looking for a problem.
  Having travelled a lot around in Europe I have never seen bottle caps laying the street alone. People throw them together or not at all.
  This is bureaucracy time spent on caps instead of actual problems. So they could focus on actual issues instead of this shit. It's a testament to how they blame every issue on random people instead of the industries inventing new ways to fuck up any ecosystem.
  
  Why do i have he impression that problems only get solved if the solution doesn't damage a specific class of people?
  
  You know what would fix that problem? Not using plastic. It doesn't actually get recycled no matter what doodad they attach to it.
  
  Exactly i feel like people are becoming too weiny and easily irritated maybe because of the decline of quality in life due to capitalism ?
- Its the same with the paper straws while disposable electronic cigarettes are still allowed, which not only contain plastics, but also electronics and a rechargeable lithium cell.
  All the while a reusable vape works just as well, while paper straws just suck and they even contain plastic as well.
  
  I mean you can also get reusable metal straws the same as a reusable vape.
- I haven't experienced these bottles since I'm in the US, but by that picture; are they not easy to just rip off so it's normal again?
  
  Fairly easy to rip off. But they sometimes leave some sharp pieces of plastic poking your lips. Also it's annoying.
  Would probably be better if the tether was longer.
- An industry coordinating to make tethered caps isn’t a result of “capitalism” in any way at all.
  At some point you gotta recognize capitalism is a catch-all boogeyman to you, not a real thing.

I'm convinced those do very little for the environment. There was some really smart executive at the plastic bottle company who made this up so they can charge more from beverage companies.
- Even better. All the bottling and filling machine manufacturers could sell expensive upgrade packages for the beverage companies to even be able to work with the new caps. In our case we even had to completely retire two older machines because there are incompatible and buy new ones. Great for the environment for sure.
- They are making a ton of similar laws already. So the bottle caps alone might not do that much but those all laws combined are doing a lot
  
  Unless we remove plastic from the environment entirely, this is the smallest band-aid available on a massive gushing chest wound.

It does shit for the environment, no one throws caps away separately while recycling the bottle. Most coloured plastics aren't recycled anyways. Like 80% of all microplastic is from car tires.
- It was a very common plastic to be found on beaches. So they wanted to tether it to prevent garbage shit in the ocean.
  
  But isn't the tether still too thin and fragile to remain connected forever?
  If you drop a tethered cap on the beach, a few weeks in the sun, getting polished by sand, and that cap is seperating from the ring, and how does that fix the problem?
- https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC108181
  Top categories of litter on EU beaches (table pdf page 81): #1 and 2 large and small plastic/polysterine pieces 14.90 and 13.83%, #3 strings and cords 13.75%. #4 cigarette butts 6.14%, #5 cough "Plastic caps and lids (drinks, chemicals, detergents (non-food), unidentified) / plastic rings from bottle caps/lids" 5.27%.
  Bottles are a way smaller category so by tethering the caps you should get rid of all the caps without a bottle. There's then another impact assessment (please don't ask me for a link) looking at impact on the bottling industry and beverage market and it was deemed negligible, so Brussels went ahead and mandated tethered caps, comes into force in July.
  This isn't a question of "is the impact of the regulation big or small" but "do the pros of regulation outweigh the cons", and they do. We're not in the US over here.
- This also fucks a little with people collecting caps for selling them off later. Often people with cancer or other terminal diseases. I have zero idea how it is viable, but we see those very often in Poland.

The idea is solid, the execution is just awful.
If it had just a bit more slack, at least you will be able to close the bottle without having to jerk it. Add even a little more, and you would be able to drink from the bottle without it poking out your eye.
- "Own brands" which are theoretically lower quality accidentally executed this idea much better - to cut costs they use less material for the "strings" which allows the cap to be placed not so close to the bottle

I have never seen one of these. Can you not just like, rip it off?
- You can, but there's enough plastic to make it non-trivial, particularly if you don't want to risk destroying the cap.
  They definitely mess with your muscle memory, both when opening it, and drinking from it.
  
  I tried to take them off a few times until I realized it was on purpose and not a manufacturing defect.
  The problem isn't the force it takes to rip it off: that's easy enough to do. The problem is that the now-free cap has sharp edges that really hurt, and the plastic bottle now has an annoying dangling plastic tail.
- When they first introduced these, my brother thought it was a defect and ripped it off. It leaves a pretty sharp bit of plastic behind and he cut his hand when he screwed the lid back on. I get the idea behind them (it’s so you have to recycle the cap along with the bottle) but there’s got to be a better way than this. It makes it a pain to pour a drink or drink directly from the bottle.
  
  Pour it from the opposite side to where the cap is attached. That way the awkwardness of pouring the liquid over the attached cap is a none issue. I can only assume that's what you've been trying to do.
- You can, but it takes a considerable amount of force.
  
  My stubbornness knows no bounds.
- First time hearing about this too . What country is this done in ?
  
  The UK for one. The US too judging the use of $ in other comments.
- In my experience it leaves after a sharp edge when you rip the cap off which then pokes your hands when you try to put the cap back on.

I had no idea that this is a global phenomenon.

Oh, that's intentional? I just assumed it was a manufacturing defect where the perforation doesn't quite detach the cap from the ring.
- Same ... But i also don't drink many of these bottles so maybe that's why

Just twist it the fuck off
- This isn't possible. Every time I tried that it leaves behind 2 nasty & sharp plastic prongs. I've found no way to avoid that. And they can't even be removed, I tried with pliers and a lighter and some sharp plastic spikes will inevitably remain.
  
  jesus christ
  this is what you think about: the little plastic points on your plastic soda bottle from where you tore the plastic cap off
  
  The caps must be made of different plastic in my country.
  When I came across first attached cap, I just ripped it off clean without thinking twice. No problem whatsoever.
  I have never discarded a bottle without screwing the cork back, but I guess many people do. Why they would do so, that I cannot fathom.

I just deafen the complaints of tm friends and break the tether every time.
PS: as a lemmy geeky user, every time means like once or twice.

In what way are they better for the environment? I'm confused
- Bottle caps stay tethered to the bottles when bottles are taken in for recycling. They don’t end up on the ground.
  
  Which is weird, since I have never seen anyone dispose of a screw-on lid improperly. It‘s always just the caps to glass bottles you see lying around.
  
  Here is what makes no sense to me - if someone throws the caps on the ground, wouldn't they be less likely to put the bottle in a recycling bin as well?

I wouldn't even call this mildly ... Anything

Op, where are you at? I've never seen these OR the aluminum push tabs you mentioned
- The push tab is what's common on aluminum cans for the last several decades. The 70s had the pull tab style cans.
  
  Ok, so "pull tabs"are what you see on like cans of SPAM?
- Just got back from England and Scotland and virtually every plastic bottle had these. It was the first time I've ever seen them before too (I live in the US)
- I know UK and Norway are like this.
- EU. They mandated because of some recycling reason that doesn't make much sense.

Now I unscrew the cap with one hand, but I still have to hold the cap so it’s out of the way.
That shouldn't be the case. Companies have done some design work and came up with proper solutions, such as the cap snapping into open position, it'll be completely out of the way provided you turn the bottle the right way. Which actually should work with the one in the picture you posted. Maybe some bottling line somewhere didn't get the memo, or they're using up old stock, or whatnot, those that are simply attached but don't latch are indeed awkward, but that kind of thing should vanish from the market quite quickly especially once tethered caps actually do become mandatory in July.
It's still a change of habit but you get used to latching very quickly.
- Or one could just rip that shit off because one thought it was a shitty manufacturing error.
  
  Not much chance of that happening once literally all plastic bottles come with the caps attached.

You can still find those pull tabs in the woods sometimes.

I saw it for the first time last summer. Did a little reading, and according to the news articles, it was a EU directive, but it had been heavily lobbied for by Coca Cola. If I remember right, all EU countries should have implemented the necessary legislature by June this year.
I personally just tear the caps off. Can't get used to them.

Drink water and beer.
- I buy water in glass bottles. They started having these "updated" plastic caps. I burn with rage.
  
  If only there was water coming straight from a pipe into your home…
  
  Water in glass bottles. Huh.

Always wondered why those aluminum bottles I see sometimes with screw on tops are so rare, I feel like they should be used way more. Recyclability of an aluminum can, convenience and form factor of a bottle.
- Alu is expensive. Why spend the money if you can injection mold a cap for no money at all, injection mold the blank and blowmold it for a penny

It's shit like this that makes me realise carrying a knife hasn't lost its utility.

Detach one side of the cap by twisting. This allows turning the cap down to the bottle neck. You can then hold the cap out of the way and the bottle with one hand.

wtf, my muscle memory is impacted?! fuck the environment! /s

I’ve never seen this before. I’m not sure how I’d feel about it.

Aha! So that's the thing. I'd been wondering why suddenly bottles and juice containers are farking annoying to open. And it's global! I'm happy it's for good reasons but the bit of my brain that gets annoyed by it wishes there was another solution.

This is genuinely one of the most amazing inventions of the last decade. Now you never lose the cap and you don't have to hold it in your hand.
I can't believe anyone thinks this is not amazing.
- I have cut my lips twice on these fuckers. Also just this week while pouring milk, the cap somehow slipped right under the stream and spilled the milk everywhere.
  Who loses their bottlecap?
  Also this makes it harder for kids to drink from bottles, since they can't put their whole mouth around.
  I hate these shit stains with a passion.
  I am 99% sure, thia was all just a PR stunt by some bottle company. If they really wanted to do something for the environment, they would go for glass bottles again, since they can be recycled forever.
  
  You can bend them out of the way and they don't break off I find that really useful.
  Especially for bottles and cartons that are poured into a glass.
- The cap doesn't stay where you put it, usually is still a bit wet from the liquid and that drips on your face when you take a sip. If you have facial hair, you have to navigate your way around the cap as well.
  I'm not against the idea in principle, but the implementations have ranged from mildly irritating to unusable for me.
  
  Maybe I don't drink from small bottles enough but even then I just turn them out of the way.
  I find it intriguing how people have such different experiences with it.

I get why they’re there. But I don’t like them because you now need to orient the bottle in such a manner you aren’t sticking your nose in the cap. Not such a big deal for small soda bottle tops, but I like kefir and some sport drink tops are huge, and that makes it pretty damn annoying to work around and now you’ve got this cap resting on your cheek sometimes.

How are people having problems with these? They're better in every way, you gotta be dumb as a brick to have any issues with using them.

Never noticed, cut top off the bottle with my limited edition Tenchu katana. I show no mercy

Wait this is new? It's been around since I was born (which is not as recently as y'all might think). Maybe it's just the country I live in.

I saw these for the first time in Europe last year. I thought the cap was defective the first two time. Then I realized its meant to stay. I do not like it. Glad its not a thing in USA.

211 comments