BERRY Global Group has announced it has become the first plastic packaging manufacturer in Europe to supply The Coca-Cola Company with a lightweight, tethered closure for its carbonated soft drinks in PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottles.
The closure is designed to remain intact with the bottle – making it less likely to be littered and more likely to be recycled, Berry explained.
Over 400 million closures have been applied to date on Coca-Cola bottling lines in Germany, Spain, and the UK, with the rollout to continue to the company’s other European plants.
“Innovation in packaging design is key to helping our customers meet their ambitious sustainability goals while delivering attractive, functional solutions that meet and exceed constantly evolving market demands,” said Tom Salmon, chairman & CEO at Berry Global. “Because PET bottles are the most recycled plastic package type, this collaboration has tremendous potential to help keep resources in use and out of our environment.”
EU Directive 2019/204 requires plastic beverage bottles up to three litres in size to have closures that remain attached to the container throughout their intended use from July 2024. Berry added that this collaboration helps progress Coca-Cola’s goal to make all of its packaging recyclable globally by 2025.
The new tethered closure features a 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 re-closed, Berry stated. When open, it provides a wide angle for ‘easy access’ to the drink.
Berry’s closure for Coca-Cola is based on its patented CompactFlip hinge solution. It is the first to be used in conjunction with the new 26mm GME30.40 neck, developed by the Cetie (The International Technical Centre for Bottling) Single-Use Plastics Group, of which Berry is a member. The new neck finish is said to deliver an over 1g saving in PET compared to the current PCO-1881 neck.
