The screw cap turns 135 years old on Saturday. It was patented by Briton Dan Rylands and since then it has done its job flawlessly to simply and reliably seal liquid in a bottle or other container. Lately, that's not the case.
Since the 3rd of July in the European Union, the cap has to be firmly attached to the bottle and this drives many consumers crazy. They spill everything on themselves, from yogurt to oil, either from a stuck cork or while trying to remove it anyway.
So, the easily detachable cap is illegal. Why exactly did the legislators mandate that it must be firmly attached to the ring on the package?
The idea was to curb pollution. Separated caps are said to end up in nature more often and pollute soil, rivers and oceans.
Kempten University's packaging expert, Markus Prem, believes that the evolution of the cap was imposed by "pure activism" and "cleansing of conscience," and that there will be no more tangible results.
"Does it bring anything to the planet or at least to Europe? It won't," Prem told the dpa agency. "The cost of billions of euros for new machines was imposed on the industry, all for an effect that is not measurable."
The German Association of Beverage Wholesalers confirmed upon inquiry that producers had to invest money to meet the new legal requirement. "We are counting on the cost measured in millions," the association said.
On the other hand, the organization of mineral water fillers stated that "there is no data on major problems" when adjusting production.
In other words, costs and complications vary from case to case.
At the same time, plugs in Europe and the USA, unlike in Asia, have almost no role in pollution, stated Prem. "We should have engaged in something else, if we wanted to change something."
According to his assessment, the development of recycling and circulation of materials is much more important. "Many areas still use hard-to-degrade synthetic material for bonding and packaging."
He singled out PET bottles as a positive example. Polyethylene terephthalate bottles and glass are already being recycled at a rate of almost 99 percent.
"The problem of so-called littering (pollution) was largely eliminated in Germany even before the European law," said Prem.
He rejected the thesis that consumers will eventually get used to the new caps, the way they got used to banishing plastic bags or straws.
Of course, he added, there are other ways to close packaging, such as the metal closures common on glass beer bottles.
"However, there is no simpler and easier way than simply unscrewing the cap," said Prem.
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