Tethered caps for all plastic bottles up to three liters (or approximately 100 fluid ounces), mandated in Europe since last summer, aren’t required in the US just yet.
But given California’s interest in dramatically reducing plastic pollution — and the decision of California-based Crystal Geyser to add tethered caps to its 8-ounce water bottles — the prospect of consumer regulations requiring attached bottle caps could soon bubble up in America’s contentious cultural debates.
Indeed, were it not for opposition from the beverage industry, California would already have approved and implemented a tethered-cap requirement in 2018.
Before the facts about tethered caps are smothered by the anticipated punditry, here’s a quick summary of the European Union’s regulatory intentions and their consequences so far.
What are tethered caps and how do they work?
Simply put, tethered caps are those that remain attached to a plastic bottle after being unscrewed. The trick is in the cap’s design. In the example pictured below right, rather than separating completely from the circular plastic band atop the bottle, the cap stays connected to a filament that partially separates from the band itself as the cap is unscrewed. The cap can then be re-screwed to re-seal the bottle.
The second example, below left, uses a snap-on cap style to achieve the same end. Different cap-design styles all aim for similar ends, which include not only comfort of use, but durability and, if possible, compatibility with existing production equipment.
What are tethered caps designed to achieve?
As even a casual beachgoer can attest, plastic bottle caps that litter the shoreline harm wildlife and pollute the environment. The tethered-cap legislation, adopted in 2019 as the first step in the European Union’s Single-Use Plastics directive, is…
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