A bottled water company is working to change the industry by making its plastic packaging more sustainable.
CG Roxane, which distributes Crystal Geyser Natural Alpine Spring Water, marked another first by unveiling a tethered cap in August, Plastics Today reported. The EZ-Cap is the first such product in the United States, though the European Union in July began requiring tethered caps on all plastic drink bottles up to three liters.
The item took over a year to develop, but it's been in the works since 2018, when CG Roxane tested a tethered cap on 16.9-ounce bottles, according to the outlet. The cap now comes on 8-ounce bottles.
The company's high-speed production line couldn't operate with the tethered cap because it interfered with technical injection-blowing and packaging processes, so CG Roxane has since deployed new equipment, as Vice President of Operations Lionel Ferchaud told Plastics Today in a Q&A.
Ferchaud and Co. still hope the EZ-Cap can be used on more than just its smaller bottles. CG Roxane was the first U.S. beverage company with an in-house recycled PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plant, and it installed solar panels at its San Bernardino, California, facility in 2021, the outlet reported.
"Observing the effects of plastic pollution, we felt a strong responsibility as a leading bottled water company to drive this transition toward more sustainable packaging," Ferchaud told Plastics Today.
"... Our proactive adoption of this technology reflects our commitment to sustainability and positions us as a leader in the industry's shift toward more environmentally friendly packaging solutions."
Made of low-density polyethylene, the cap can be easily recycled since it remains attached to the bottle, ensuring more plastic reaches recycling centers.
While this is an important step to reduce plastic pollution in our environment, the best way to prevent litter and the other problems associated with single-use plastics is to avoid them. Instead of buying bottled water, turn to a reusable water bottle, seek out food that isn't packaged in plastic, and use glassware instead of plastic containers to store your perishables.
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