Origin Materials (“Origin”), a technology company dedicated to facilitating the global shift to sustainable materials, announced on August 6, 2024, the unveiling of engineering and design innovations in the production of tethered PET caps, marking the first-ever creation of such caps.

“The EU Single-Use Plastic Directive, which came into effect last month, requires caps to remain attached to bottles across the European Union,” said John Bissell, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Origin. “Our PET cap innovations are ideally designed to meet these regulatory demands and can be applied in any market. We anticipate other regions will also adopt similar tethered cap regulations, inspired by the EU’s example. With our advanced PET cap technology and manufacturing capabilities, we are well-positioned to tackle the $65 billion caps and closures market, which currently uses billions of caps annually that can only be downcycled, not recycled into new caps.”

Bissell further explained: “When keeping caps attached to bottles, it makes sense to use the same material for both: PET. Otherwise, recycling centers must separate tethered HDPE or polypropylene caps from PET bottles. Our solution allows caps and bottles to be recycled together without separation. This is a significant advancement for recycling circularity, as it enhances material purity and retains valuable, high-performing PET plastic within the recycling loop.”

The tethered PET cap enhances Origin’s earlier PET closure, which is the world’s lightest CSD (carbonated soft drink) cap designed for the PCO 1881 neck finish and the first PET cap manufactured with commercial-scale equipment. Origin’s PET caps can be manufactured from any type of PET plastic, including virgin PET, recycled PET (rPET), or bio-based PET.

“Our patent-pending tethered cap design is simple, innovative, and user-friendly,” said Bissell. “We utilize the threads of the PET cap and bottle to securely lock the cap in place, angled away from the mouth for convenience. Our PET caps offer performance and sustainability benefits, including recyclability, extended shelf-life, lightweight design, compatibility with recycled PET, and support for mono-material packaging, all while providing an excellent user experience. We've already received significant interest in this new addition to our PET cap product line.”

Origin’s PCO 1881-compatible caps will be commercially available beginning in Q4 2024, with the PCO 1881-compatible tethered caps set to follow shortly after. In collaboration with world-class partners, Origin Materials is addressing the toughest sustainability challenges, in line with its core mission to aid in the global transition to sustainable materials.