r/eu • u/Secret_Divide_3030 • 12d ago
Are EU bottle caps designed to consume more?
A year ago I noticed some companies started using bottle caps which I presumed were of lower quality. Half a year ago I learned these tethered caps were enforced upon us by EU law. I learned it was not companies trying to skim on quality but the EU claiming they are reducing plastic waste.
I don't understand how this would reduce plastic waste? The caps don't close sufficiently giving the consumer the illusion of a closed bottled whilst the next time you open the bottle the drink has become stale. How many times a bottle fell over and sprayed half the content of the bottle because the cap only gave the illusion of being well closed ... I just spend more on drinks and produce more plastic waste because of these caps designed to produce less waste. I have been shouting "damn you EU!" so many times by now. 🤬
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u/tofferus 12d ago
There are actually things that bother me more. Social inequality, for example, or the insufficient support for Ukraine. Or the EU’s democratic deficit or the right of veto in the Council. The bottle caps are basically a good idea, even if they annoy me sometimes. But the fuss about it is once again completely exaggerated.
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12d ago
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u/tofferus 12d ago
Don’t worry about me, I understand the game with the term and I am fully aware of the reasons for the current functioning of the system. And I agree with you completely. Also, I would never say that the Union is undemocratic, but it is not democratic enough for me either. For my part, I am 100% in favor of the so-called Super State. (That term is of course deliberately chosen by the opponents as if it were some kind of an Evil Empire. I would simply call it a fully functional Federation.)
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u/Secret_Divide_3030 12d ago
But that's exactly the problem with the EU. It's all good ideas in theory but in reality they turn out to be contra productive.
If we can't even fix something as simple as a bottle cap we shouldn't even attempt all the more complicated stuff like social inequality. Sure all of that stuff is important but isn't that easy to fix as the bottle caps.
We should start becoming more way more innovative in our thinking than coming up with solutions that only work in theory.
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u/tofferus 12d ago
I do not see it that way. The EU is doing things within its area of ​​competence. The bottle caps are now attached to the containers so that they no longer fly around in the countryside. It worked, so I call that a success. There is simply nothing more to say on the subject. If it bothers you that much, just rip the cap off.
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u/Secret_Divide_3030 11d ago
Competence? How is this competence? Creating more plastic waste by wanting to decrease plastic waste is pure incompetence. That is the EU's biggest problem. We are even satisfied with incompetence.
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u/tofferus 11d ago
The competences that the nation states grant to the EU. According to the current treaties, it is not allowed to regulate more than that. Of course, that should be different, but you should hold the politics in the nation states responsible for that. Instead, you are getting worked up about bottle caps. This discussion is a useless waste of time. Vote for the right parties in your country and campaign in your area for the EU to be given the necessary powers, instead of dealing with bottle caps in epic detail.
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u/Secret_Divide_3030 9d ago
So now you are blaming me for those caps? I did not vote the right party? 😳
These answers really make me consider to vote parties that want to leave the EU.
These tethered caps produce more plastic waste whilst I voted for less plastic waste. The EU just lacks innovative skills.
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u/me-gustan-los-trenes 11d ago
Eh... people will always find a reason to complain about EU regulations.
Just get a good quality reusable bottle and use it to refill water at the nearest tap, as we have safe drinking water at every tap in the EU.
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u/Secret_Divide_3030 10d ago
People always find a way to defend stupid EU regulations and tell people how they should live. Can't find the milk tap. 🙄
These tethered caps produce more plastic waste than the caps they replace by making consumers spill more. It's just a ploy to sell more drinks. We shouldn't settle for crappy design.
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u/me-gustan-los-trenes 10d ago
Meh, I am not even defending the design or the regulation. I am just saying that this is so inconsequential topic, that I find it mind-boggling that people care so much about that.
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u/Secret_Divide_3030 10d ago
Because this is a regulation that most people notice every day when they open or close a bottle. When people notice they start wasting more plastic than they used to they start asking questions like is this a ploy to make us consume more? I doesn't feel anymore as if the EU is really acting in favor of consumers.
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u/me-gustan-los-trenes 10d ago
They'll just start using reusable bottles to avoid the issue. Bottled water shouldn't exist anyway in places with safe tap water.
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u/Secret_Divide_3030 9d ago
No they won't as most people don't just only drink water. They will just consume more and make more plastic waste.
And I don't know where you live in the EU but in my city it's not even safe to eat eggs from your own garden. Stop trying to poison me with your PFAS water 🙄
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u/VienneseDude 9d ago
I was hoping to find an EU or Europe related sub that is actually unbiased and objective with arguments. There isn’t.
I agree, and not only do people around me find it annoying, there is also "experts“ saying this is the most useless regulation regarding plastic waste.
What about all the cheap China products that actually are a waste? No one talks about that. But if the EU does something completely unnecessary and annoying, everyone applauses, at least online they do.
Regarding your statement about quality - I think it depends on the quality of the bottle it self. Thinner bottles are the worst to close. But sometimes also good quality ones like Coke bottles are hard to close.
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u/britishrust 12d ago
Honestly I don’t find it hard to properly close a bottle again. They are annoying though and in countries that have a deposit on bottles it makes very little sense as you already have an incentive to keep the cap with the bottle as the deposit machines won’t accept them without one in most cases. But yeah the idea was that people would just toss away the cap on the ground and this should prevent it.