We are inseparable - Attached caps on Coca-Cola Hungary's soft drink plastic bottles to boost recycling

As a part of its World Without Waste strategy, Coca-Cola Hungary will introduce a tethered closure on its soft drink plastic bottles, inseparable from the packaging. The innovation is the first to use in the Hungarian carbonated soft drinks market and is introduced significantly earlier than the July 2024 deadline set by the EU industry regulation. The plastic bottles with caps attached will boost the recollection and recycling of empty packaging, also providing consumers with a more convenient and hygienic experience.  

Thanks to the innovative design of the new attached caps, consumers can use the bottles as usual. The packaging stays intact, significantly reducing the amount of caps that are lost or thrown away, and sometimes end up in the nature. The new packaging is also more practical and hygienic to use, as there is no need to hold the cap in the hand while drinking and prevents the cap from becoming contaminated when dropped.  

Although the design of the bottles and caps remains basically unchanged, they are now attached by a plastic thread and a ring. All consumers have to do is twist the cap in the usual way and then flip it back until clicks and enjoy their beverage. Then, after closing the cap, they can place the empty packaging - the bottle with the cap attached - in the nearest recycling bin. 

The attached cap prototypes were developed as a result of a targeted R&D project in close collaboration with The Coca-Cola Company’s bottling partner, Coca-Cola HBC Group. The new caps meet the highest technical and safety standards, and also deliver a comfortable experience for consumers and offer practical, hygiene-related, and functional benefits.  Extensive consumer research and testing done earlier this year across Europe helped define and develop a preferred consumer solution in terms of form, function and convenience.   

The introduction of the new caps is a further step in the company's commitment to reducing packaging waste and achieving a circular economy. The collection and recycling of plastic caps with the bottles is also in line with the company's packaging sustainability commitment to help collect one bottle for every beverage sold by 2030. 

The new packaging of Coca-Cola, Sprite, Fanta and Kinley soft drinks bottles with the tethered closure will be available on shelves from early 2023. Tea and juice products; Fuzetea and Cappy will also follow early next year, further products with tethered caps will arrive in the near future.