Amcor and Spadel have customized a tethered cap for the premium water brand Wattwiller, designed to be recyclable and accessible to all consumers.
The new closure is made of HDPE and designed to be recyclable with PET bottles. It is also said to be lighter than the previous design, with its 26mm thought to reduce its weight.
These features are set to align with Wattwiller’s sustainability targets, with the brand claiming to have achieved 100% carbon neutrality across its product life cycles in 2020.
Additionally, the closure itself is intended to help consumers with limited dexterity, including the elderly and the disabled community, open and close the bottle. The ‘flower-shaped’ cap features smooth and ribbed surfaces to improve grip.
“Compared with the previous solution, Amcor’s closure is lighter and better aligned with Spadel’s sustainability goals,” said Sarah de la Mare, line director at Amcor. “The project leveraged our strengths in R&D, design and lightweighting.
“Collaboration was central to this project. To work with Spadel closely meant that we were able to successfully identify the challenges and demonstrate that not all tethered caps are the same. Amcor’s are an innovative, forward-thinking packaging solution as well as being practical and user-friendly.
“In addition to highlighting Amcor’s strong track record of working with partners and ability to create bespoke solutions to meet very specific needs, the closure ideally demonstrates how inclusive design can be achieved alongside sustainability goals.”
“We’re proud of this collaboration with Amcor,” added Julian Schmitt, marketing manager at Spadel. “Their expertise has helped deliver an innovative closure that showcases not only our commitment to reducing our impact on the environment, but also our desire to demonstrate accessible design in our packaging.”
The news comes after Husky Technologies unveiled its tamper-evident, mono-PET bottle and closure technology last month. Targeting the Middle East and Africa region, the closure is intended to unlock higher recyclate yield and product security.
Pont Packaging has also revealed a new tethered cap system for its Petpackers range. It is intended for vitamin, mineral and supplement products, among others, and aims to comply with EU recycling guidelines.
In a previous article, we discussed the potential benefits of tethered caps for consumers with disabilities. Those with limited mobility may struggle to retrieve a cap if it is dropped, which is argued to create an unnecessary financial burden; yet others believe that, if the tethers are too sharp, disabled consumers are more at risk of injury.
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