United Caps and Lyondellbasell unveil new tethered closures at K 2019

Innovative closures to meet the new EU single-use plastics directive

October 17, 2019

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United Caps and LyondellBasell at K 2019

United Caps, a manufacturer of caps and closures, and LyondellBasell, a plastics, chemicals and refining company, are displaying the results of an extensive collaborative effort at K 2019 to respond to EU Directive 2019/904 on single-use plastics that requires beverage bottles to have closures tethered to the bottle for proper disposal, reducing the risk of plastic items dispersing into the environment.

Following the publication in May 2018 by the EU Commission of a proposal for requiring tethered closures for single-use plastics (SUP), United Caps spearheaded the Alliance for Closure Tethering (ACT) to bring together segment leaders in the packaging industry to conduct an impact assessment of various tethering solutions on existing neck finishes and to determine finishing changes that might be required.

“This move is in line with our long-held principles of openness and transparency and our firmly held belief that our closures should differentiate today and sustain tomorrow. We are pleased that these efforts are delivering results that are on display at the K 2019 in Hall 8A D12 on the stand of our partner, LyondellBasell”, said Benoit Henckes, chief executive officer, United Caps.

“Tethered closures are expected to be pivotal in changing public attitudes towards the use of single-use plastic as well as littering. But they do present challenges for the industry, specifically around the cost of closures and the ease with which they can be integrated into the production process, including the potential need for retooling bottling machines,” Henckes added. “That is why we initiated ACT – to support better integration into the supply chain with a United, rather than a standalone, solution.”

The LyondellBasell grades Purell GC 7260G and Hostalen 5231H are a part of the new tethered closure solutions developed to comply with the new directive. Purell GC 7260G is the benchmark grade for still beverage closures featuring excellent organoleptic properties. Hostalen 5231H is an innovative grade for lightweight closures that features very high stress cracking resistance thanks to LyondellBasell’s innovative catalyst technology. The red color of the closure was obtained using LyondellBasell’s Polybatch Color Masterbatch.

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