Why have they changed bottle tops?

Some Coca-Cola fans thought they have been opening bottles wrong all this time.

Some Coca-Cola fans thought they were losing their minds when the company decided to add attached caps to their plastic bottles.

Well, it seems they've provided a very solid reason for making the lid extremely difficult to take off.

Brands including Coca-Cola Original Taste, Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, Diet Coke, Fanta, Sprite, Dr Pepper and Lilt, will be getting the cap-on treatment as the move is already being rolled out across the UK.

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Fans not in the know about the packaging update were sent into a tailspin. One tweeted: "Wait this actually a thing? Thought I'd just been opening bottles terribly the past few weeks."

"SAME! So glad it’s not just me," someone else agreed.

A third added: "Omg same, or I thought it was defect in the lid."

So yep, people are confused, but there is method to Coca-Cola's madness.

Coca‑Cola Great Britain (CCGB) said it is trying to make 'it easier to recycle the entire package and ensure no cap gets left behind'.

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A spokesperson for Coca-Cola told LADbible: “Coca-Cola’s new attached caps are designed to prevent litter, and make collection and recycling easier by keeping all parts of the bottle together.

“We understand that it’s a bit of a change, however extensive research went into the new design to ensure consumers continue to have a positive experience when enjoying our drinks.

"When opening and closing the bottle, we advise consumers to not remove the cap from the bottle neck, or twist or bend the tab in a way that could compromise or damage the closure.”

Jon Woods, General Manager at Coca‑Cola Great Britain, is naturally very much behind the new change.

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He said: “This is a small change that we hope will have a big impact, ensuring that when consumers recycle our bottles, no cap gets left behind.

"It’s one of many steps we’re taking towards our global commitment to help collect and recycle a bottle or can for every one that we sell by 2025, on our journey towards a World Without Waste.

"As the world’s biggest drinks company, we recognise that we have a leading role to play in pushing innovation and design to produce more high-quality recycled plastic which can be converted into new bottles.”

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Jo Churchill, Resources and Waste Minister added: “More businesses are finding innovative ways to tackle harmful plastic pollution and Coca‑Cola’s new design will make it easier for people to recycle and help reduce litter.

"The Government is committed to boosting recycling across the country with our new Environment Act creating a deposit return scheme for drinks containers, making manufacturers more responsible for their packaging, and putting in place consistent recycling collections.”

Many Coca-Cola lovers actually prefer the new caps.

One said: "Looks like I'm very much in the minority here but I actually really like them and find them convenient, not having to worry about keeping the cap safe every time you take a drink is great imo."

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Another added: "I prefer it this way, though am yet to find a bottle like this."

Topics: Food And Drink

Sometimes small changes can make a huge difference, and a recent design shift in the packaging of Coca-Cola bottles has the potential to do just that.

In European countries like the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, Spain, and more, plastic Coca-Cola bottles are sold with the bottle caps attached, ensuring every part of the bottle can be recycled.

Have you seen our new bottles with attached caps?

These are designed to:

Help the whole package to reach the recycling centre

Reduce littered or lost bottle tops

Small changes can make a big impact, helping to create a #WorldWithoutWastepic.twitter.com/VFAJwEkfIz

— Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (@CocaColaEP) August 7, 2023

According to the North Sea Foundation, plastic bottle caps are among the top five most deadly forms of ocean trash. The organization’s Bottle Cap Report also revealed that 20 million bottle caps were found in beach cleaning activities in the past 30 years.

Bottle caps are sometimes consumed by sea birds or other marine mammals, and ingesting caps could have potentially fatal consequences.

While there are myriad problems with recycling and a high number of recyclable products like soda bottles are thrown away anyway, attaching the cap to the bottle should reduce the rate at which even the caps of unrecycled bottles end up polluting the ocean.

Despite Coca-Cola saying that bottles across its brand portfolio have been 100% recyclable for years, bottle caps are not always included when they are sent to treatment centers. The move to attach the caps to the bottle was to prevent littering and hopefully stopping caps from being left on beaches or washing up on the shore when finding their way to water sources.

When announcing the design change in 2022, general manager of Coca-Cola Great Britain John Woods said: “This is a small change that we hope will have a big impact, ensuring that when consumers recycle our bottles, no cap gets left behind.

“It’s one of many steps we’re taking towards our global commitment to help collect and recycle a bottle or can for every one that we sell by 2025, on our journey towards a World Without Waste.”

It isn’t the first change among Coca-Cola packaging to try to help consumers avoid plastic pollution.

In 2022, Graphic Packaging partnered with Liberty Coca-Cola Beverages in the United States to remove six-pack plastic rings from packaging with a fiber-based paper alternative.

Graphic Packaging said the switch would help to remove more than 34,000 kilograms (75,000 pounds) of plastic packaging a year from the supply chain.

The hope is all bottles in Europe will have attached caps by 2024 to comply with an EU law that calls for caps and lids to remain attached to any drinks container of up to 3 liters.

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