Although this may seem like a small change in our daily lives, This “revolution” caused a lot of emotions in Poland, which were often negative. Social media is filled with entries from people upset that doing their jobs has suddenly become more difficult, almost overnight. Drinks that we previously drank and poured without a lid, They are distorted by uncomfortable and almost permanently stuck “decoration”..
Opinions on Twitter (X) say, among other things, that the new caps They make pouring drinks difficult, are difficult to seal, and the packaging is uncomfortable to drink. On the other hand, there are also sounds that the new solution makes it impossible to lose the cap and helps in recycling the bottle and cap.
Why did this happen? Well, if anyone is making our lives more difficult, it’s probably the EU’s fault. And that’s exactly the case here. However, according to EU commissioners, this minor inconvenience is a small price to pay for what a simple act of attaching the cover to the environment could do.
The lids attached to bottles and drink cans are one of several elements of the Single-Use Plastics (SUP) Directive. From mid-2024. It will be mandatory for all beverage containers with a capacity of up to three litres.
This is the end of EU translations. Although the European Commission has repeatedly argued about the correctness of the implementation of the SUP Directive, the issue of caps has gone largely unnoticed. The basic assumption is that The attached cap will not be lost and will be recycled along with the bottle or carton. Even now, the hats often pollute the environment, and their small size means they can be eaten, for example, by animals.
At this point it’s worth noting the Polish accent in the whole “Nut Scandal”. We are used to having special metal containers or “hearts” designated for collecting plastic wrap in schools, shops, at festivals and even in front of offices. Will charities no longer be able to raise money? Or maybe it was always just a lie?
As experts from the waste management industry explained, this type of action was primarily intended to make us pay attention to the limits. It is not only a potential raw material, but it also helps reduce the space occupied by plastic bottles and cardboard during collection (Crushed and twisted packaging takes up much less space).
Separated caps from bottles and cardboard are often sent to waste incineration plants, because recycling these small items is difficult and unprofitable. It’s a different story when they arrive at the sorting center with the main package. The bottle and cap are then recycled.
“this is the reason Now we need to teach the community how to throw the package with the lid in the trash. Do not separate rings, caps, labels and other small items from bottles. There are artificial ways to do this. Thanks to them, more waste is recycled. “The smaller the waste, the more difficult it is to sort it later,” Piotr Ciuzek, deputy director of the municipal waste disposal station in Orly Stowe, explains to Prawa.pl.
Those in the waste management and recycling sector are optimistic about the new regulations and hope they will eventually allow them to obtain more raw materials. However, charities that have collected the caps may have a problem, as it will be more difficult now. However, it should be noted that it was not easy at all. Buying a wheelchair, for example, requires collecting tens of tons of bottle caps.
The largest beverage and packaging producers, such as Coca-Cola and Tetra Pak, have been able to adapt to the new EU requirements and have introduced new limits on their products.
“Although the change at first glance seems small, its design requires consideration of many technical aspects. The current appearance of the new cover is the result of tremendous efforts“And the time and investment of R&D teams in the entire system,” said the Polish branch of Coca-Cola.
The EU has not published any analysis indicating the specific environmental benefits that the attached caps are expected to bring. However, a 2018 PwC study shows that new regulations may paradoxically lead to increased plastic production and carbon dioxide emissions.2.
“Looking only at the environmental consequences, the PwC report predicts that Fixed caps may include an additional production of between 50,000 and 200,000 tons of plastic per year.– said Sigrid Ligner, President of the UNESDA Beverage Producers Association, commissioned by PricewaterhouseCoopers to prepare the analysis.
It will all really come to fruition How will packaging producers deal with the new regulations and whether they want to reduce plastic consumption. “When designing the new caps, we focused on compatibility with existing bottling lines and improving the drinking experience for customers,” says Michael Krueger, president of Corvaglia, which produces the new caps. “At the same time, we wanted to minimize the use of additional materials.” Packaging.
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