Tethered caps are sustainable and user-friendly

According to a consumer study on tethered caps, which become mandatory in Europe in July 2024, consumers are willing to embrace eco-friendly closures if they also have handling benefits. The majority of consumers surveyed rated the BERICAP tethered caps – which go by the name of ClipAside – more positively than conventional closures for their intuitive handling, their 180-degree opening angle and the fact that they are very hygienic. In addition to complying with EU Directive 2019/904 to improve recycling performance, beverage manufacturers who change over to ClipAside early can enhance their brand appeal and improve customer loyalty. BERICAP designed ClipAside to allow customers to prepare for a fast and simple change-over to tethered caps while continuing to manufacture closures with the current TE band geometry (or to manufacture both types concurrently). When producing closures in designs that have been adapted to the future ClipAside height BERICAP can simply change the cutting geometry and switch between standard cut and tethered cap cut. It is then possible for the filling lines to conveniently switch between standard and tethered caps without any modifications being necessary, which fully reflects the current market situation. In other words, beverage manufacturers are ideally equipped for a flexible and efficient future change-over.

Conserving resources – less is more

BERICAP has been pushing forward light weight initiatives across all product categories, because weight and material reductions improve sustainability. These initiatives include the development of new neck standards to reduce both bottle and closure material requirements, as well as the continuous optimisation of closure designs in conjunction with neck standard development. The company has played an instrumental role in the weight and material-saving evolution of the standard PCO 1810 neck finish to PCO 1881 and most recently the new GME 30.40. BERICAP is currently working on the next ClipAside generation for the GME 30.40 neck finish, which represents another significant weight reduction compared to the recently launched version.

Dynamic sport closures – at home or on-the-go

The existing secure and easy-to-use BERICAP sport closure programme for on-the-go products, which already includes Thumb’Up and Crystal, has been extended by new models Mayence and Biarritz, as well as the premium closure Monet. All BERICAP sport closures are made of HDPE/PP materials and have a large opening for a better drinking experience. The one-piece BERICAP Biarritz unites modern design with intuitive handling and is suitable for dry and wet aseptic filling. Two-piece sport closure BERICAP Mayence can have a bi-colour design and is suitable for wet aseptic filling. BERICAP Monet, a two-piece dry-and-wet-aseptic-fillable premium closure, features a high-visibility tamper evidence ring different colour between the body and cap – and the distinctive window on the closure clearly indicates if the closure has already been opened.

Integrated portfolio – products for all customer requirements

This year BERICAP is presenting a fully comprehensive range of closures for the beverage industry to Drinktec visitors. It was completed in 2021 by aluminium roll-on closures when MALA Verschluss-Systeme GmbH of Bad Liebenstein, Thuringia, became part of the BERICAP Group, uniting plastic and aluminium closures under one roof. Today BERICAP has a uniquely comprehensive range of closures, enabling it to cater to individual customer requirements and preferences with even greater precision and efficiency. BERICAP also offers numerous individual decoration and design solutions for all of its closures to improve shelf visibility or communicate marketing activities. They are available on a mass-produced basis or in small production batches for promotions and other special projects.

“We have been developing user-friendly, sustainable and customisable closure solutions for years,” emphasised Thomas Schmidt, Group Marketing Director at BERICAP. “Our solution-driven approach is helping our customers to meet future development and production challenges and, ultimately, deliver the optimum result for consumers. We see ourselves as a companion providing sustainable, leading-edge solutions that can be quickly, simply and cost-efficiently integrated into the packaging concepts. Our recyclable solutions with reduced weight and material content ensure that beverage manufacturers only have to make a few small adjustments to their production lines in order to drive forward the sustainable transformation of the industry and comply with future statutory requirements. We are saving resources but not taking any short cuts when it comes to intuitive handling. So consumers not only get sustainability benefits, but also a new and very individual user experience.”

Drinktec, which is held in Munich every four years and is the world’s leading trade fair for the beverage and liquid food Industry, provides an international stage for sustainable innovations and many other things. In previous years thousands of exhibitors and tens of thousands of trade visitors have flocked to the trade fair, around two-thirds of them from outside Germany.

You can find further information at www.bericap.com or visit the BERICAP booth at Drinktec, Messe München, from 12-16.09.2022 (booth C5.375 in hall C5).