Berry, Coca-Cola partner to implement tethered caps in EU markets

Berry Global Group Inc., Evansville, Indiana, says it 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 polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles.

Bolstered by the EU’s Single-Use Plastics Directive, Berry says its 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. Berry claims over 400 million closures have been successfully applied to date on Coca-Cola bottling lines in Germany, Spain and the U.K., with the rollout to continue to the company’s other European plants.

“Innovation in packaging design is the key to helping our customers meet their ambitious sustainability goals while delivering attractive, functional solutions that meet and exceed constantly evolving market demands,” says Berry Global Vice President of Circular Economy and Innovation Thierry Bernet. “Because PET bottles are the most recycled plastic package type, this collaboration has tremendous potential to help keep resources in use and out of the environment.”

EU Directive 2019/204 requires plastic beverage bottles up to three liters in size to have closures that remain attached to the container throughout their intended use from July 2024. Berry says the partnership helps progress Coca-Cola’s goal to make 100 percent of its packaging recyclable globally by 2025.

Berry says its 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.

The company adds that its closure is based on its patented CompactFlip hinge solution and is the first to be used in conjunction with the new lightweight 26-millimeter GME30.40 neck, developed by Cetie (The International Technical Centre for Bottling) Single-Use Plastics Group, of which Berry is a member. The new neck finish delivers an over 1 gram saving in PET compared to the current PCO-1881 neck. Combined with a 10 percent weight reduction from the Berry closure, the new pack is now around 20 percent lighter than the PCO-1881 version.