Tethered cap becomes new sustainable packaging trend

Plastic waste problem

It is estimated that each year, more than 8 million tons of plastic enters the ocean.

The process of decomposing plastic and microplastic is harmful to organisms and human health. It takes 400-1,000 years for a plastic or nylon product to decompose.

One of the harmful habits the use and disposal of plastic drinking water bottles every day.

Most current cap designs separate from the bottle, which has led consumers to the habit of throwing the cap in with regular waste.

Thus, a large amount of plastic lids has not been recycled and instead has flowed into landfills and oceans, to the great detriment of Earth’s natural environment.

Bottles and removable caps negatively impact the environment when not recycled. Photo courtesy of Duy Tan

And no effective solution has been employed to ensure the recycling of plastic waste.

According to the World Bank, Vietnam has only recycled about 33% of its major plastics (PE, PP, PET, HDPE). Environmental and eco-friendly awareness among the general population also remains very low.

The systems of sorting, collecting, transportation, and treatment of waste are rife with limitations.

This is also the top concern of big brands when plastic bottles and plastic caps labeled with their brand names appear on beaches and parks.

Consumers thus recognize the brand name of the environmentally destructive product, which tarnishes the company’s reputation.

Therefore, more and more companies have been implementing plans to improve their products and limit the large amount of plastic waste released into the environment.

Environmentally friendly packaging

As a reputable plastic manufacturer for 37 years, Duy Tan (a member of SCG Packaging company) is aware of its pioneering responsibility to promote design and technology innovation to provide safer and more environmentally friendly products.

Recently, the enterprise has successfully produced a tethered cap attached to bottles with a compact design (weight: 1.7 g). It is made with HDPE (High Density Polyethylene) material, in accordance with BRC Global (British Retail Consortium) international standards for packaging and packaging materials.

Unlike conventional bottle caps, which are separate, this bottle cap is tightly attached to the bottle body.

This helps keep the water bottle packaged and the product inside safer, fully protecting the taste of drinking water while minimizing the risk of environmental pollution due to plastic waste.

The cap is attached to the bottle body, providing many environmental benefits. Photo courtesy of Duy Tan

According to Duy Tan, one of the big problems with plastic waste is the widespread dispersion of caps and bottles after use.

But thanks to the birth of this new tethered trend, the cap attached to the bottle body helps us not to miss any small cap so all can be recycled along with their bottles.

This makes plastic sorting, treatment, and recycling more convenient, and the awareness of environmental protection for each individual will rise.

Such innovation also demonstrates the acceleration of technological innovation to meet market demands for sustainable packaging and consumption.

With many years of experience in packing buttons and caps, Duy Tan has created hundreds of button and cap models with high technical difficulty and precision for industries.

Therefore, manufacturing a new type of cap does not pose a problem for the team of experts when it comes to meeting the strict requirements for fastened caps in the beverage industry.

According to a Duy Tan representative, attaching the cap to the body sounds simple but is challenging for the manufacturer and related equipment suppliers.

"Therefore, when applying a tethered cap, we must not only care about production costs, bottle design, bottle necks, filling lines, and capping machines, we must also ensure convenience and quality for consumers," he added.

Accordingly, the product does not affect the production and filling processes of enterprises and, at the same time, brings convenience to consumers when used (it is possible to be opened with one hand and is easy to open and close).

Additionally, Duy Tan is expanding into the market for not only drinking water tethered caps but also CSD (carbonated soft drink) tethered caps in sizes 26/22 mm.

By partnering with world-class mold makers and machine suppliers, the company ensures that products meet the highest standards of quality and innovation.

Sustainable solution of the future

According to Duy Tan, tethered caps provide many economic and environmental benefits, so they have great potential to be widely applied in many fields, from beverage and cosmetic packaging to health and pharmaceutical packaging.

The use of a tethered cap encourages users to be more responsible with their waste while also helping enterprises save on new production materials.

Products are designed to be more modern and fashionable, thereby also helping consumers choose more sustainable products.

Many experts say that a tethered cap is an innovative and effective solution in combating plastic pollution.

Many major brands around the world have begun to switch to using this type of cap, demonstrating their commitment to social responsibility.

This is also a way for enterprises to make a difference and attract customers interested in environmentally friendly products.

In addition, this improvement is also a practical contribution according to the European Union (EU)’s Directive 2019/904 on packaging, aiming to limit disposable plastic, which will be widely deployed in Europe from July.

Hence, enterprises will prioritize choosing standard packaging solutions to be able to export quality products to many potential markets.

Duy Tan’s environmentally friendly products. Photo courtesy of Duy Tan

"We hope that a small change will have a big impact to join hands to improve the problem of plastic waste and realize the goal of a circular economy," the Duy Tan representative said.

Hence, he also mentioned that Duy Tan will provide creative, friendly, and sustainable solutions to help manufacturers be more responsible with their packaging, as well support the improvement of consumer awareness and experience.

In addition to improving bottle caps, Duy Tan also strives to develop many sustainable activities.

The enterprise uses raw materials of clear origin, which are safe for health, and Duy Tan products have currently achieved high recyclability (RRC: recyclable, reusable, or compostable), with some products being 100% recycled, such as pallets and plant pots.

The system meets ISCC (International Sustainability and Carbon Certification) standards for carbon management and sustainability in the supply chain, SCG Green Choice standards for recycled content, and reduced plastic consumption...

Duy Tan has combined with partners Nestlé, Motul, and Muji to produce recycled plastic packaging (PRC, rPET, rPP) such as water bottles, lubricant bottles, and cosmetic boxes, which reduces plastic in bottle caps and reduces plastic packaging.

The enterprise is also researching bioplastic products (BIO), including materials made of sugarcane bagasse, coffee grounds, and rice husks that more easily decompose. They will be applied in the near future.