Could Tethered Bottle Caps Be the Future of Recycling?

California’s SB 45, a bill which would require companies to produce tethered caps for single-use plastic beverage containers, is gaining momentum in the senate. On March 19th, the bill passed through the Senate Environmental Quality Committee and will next face the Senate Appropriations Committee. SB 45, along with a bill introduced in Illinois earlier this year, could be indicative of a state-wide movement toward more sustainable recycling (Industry Dive). 

The single-use plastic bottle caps often end up in landfills rather than recycling systems, a motivating factor for SB 45. Moreover, an investigation by the office of California State Senator Steve Padilla showed that, since 1988, bottle caps have been the third most common item found littered on California beaches. Some researchers cite how consumers often separate caps from bottles out of a common misconception that bottle caps cannot be recycled (Steve Padilla).

In 2019, the European Union announced a directive to reduce waste and mitigate the adverse effects of single-use plastics on the environment. This directive included the requirement that all single-use plastic containers of up to three liters have lids or caps that are tethered to their respective bottles. The EU mandated that major companies comply with the directive by July 2024; since then, these companies have been working to redesign their bottles to feature tethered caps (Industry Dive).

California State Senators Steve Padilla and Catherine Blakespear, who are sponsoring SB 45, are pushing for the bill partly out of the EU directive’s recent success. Mark Murray, the Executive Director of Californians Against Waste, said that there has been more support for the bill than in 2018, when California state leaders considered and voted against the bill (then AB 2779) (Californians Against Waste). 

SB 45 still faces some challenges in being passed, namely from opposing companies in the beverage industry, including the American Beverage Association. William McDermody, the vice president of media and public affairs for the association, said that “SB 45 goes too far by raising grocery costs for working families and jeopardizing union manufacturing and retail jobs.” The EU also received pushback against their directive, with many companies citing the high levels of investment needed to buy new equipment for manufacturing this feature (Industry Dive). 

In January, Illinois State Senator Laura Murphy also introduced an act to require caps on single-use plastic bottles to either be tethered or have openings through which the beverage can be consumed while the cap is still attached to the bottle. While the act has yet to be passed, the concurrence of the introduction of these two forms of legislation could represent a broader push in the U.S. toward more effective recycling (Illinois General Assembly).