A European government regulation requiring Coca-Cola and other soft drink makers to attach bottle caps to plastic drink containers to reduce waste is causing concern among customers.
Several cola drinkers have posted videos on social media showing how the cap remains stuck to the plastic bottle while sipping their favorite soda, causing the cap to rub against their noses, cheeks, and lips. It showed him not being able to fit in.
“Now every time I have a drink, I’m literally fighting the bottle,” says Benny James, a podcast host and social media influencer from south London. told the Wall Street Journal.
“It’s just frustrating.”
James said he now prefers to buy soft drinks in cans.
In 2021, the European Union introduced a new directive on single-use plastics, requiring beverage manufacturers to put caps on bottles to encourage recycling of both bottles and caps when finished.
Coca-Cola and other soft drink companies, including PepsiCo, Danone and Nestlé, say the directive will increase the amount of plastic they use each year and cost them billions more to adapt their bottling lines. , lobbied against the directive.
But EU regulators remained unmoved, forcing companies to comply.
Soft drink consumers are not satisfied with the final product, with some tearing off caps in disgust and posting videos of rebellion on social media.
The Post has reached out to Coca-Cola for comment.
A company spokesperson told the Journal that consumers responded positively to the new design when it was introduced in focus groups.
Coca-Cola has announced that the included bottle caps have not affected sales of its products in Europe.
Coca-Cola said it was “pleased by the response from so many consumers who appreciate the steps we are taking to improve packaging circularity and prevent waste.”
“We recognize that we need to get used to this change.”
European Commission spokesman Adalbert Janz said the EU “has not imposed a particular design” on Coca-Cola.
U.S. lawmakers have so far refused to follow the lead of European lawmakers in requiring beverage companies to tie caps to bottles.
