Origin Materials (NASDAQ: ORGN, ORGNW), a technology company dedicated to advancing sustainable materials, has announced significant engineering and design innovations in the production of tethered PET caps—the first of their kind. These caps are designed to comply with the EU Single-Use Plastic Directive, which recently came into effect and requires caps to remain attached to bottles across the European Union. “Our PET cap innovations are ideal for this regulatory landscape and beyond,” stated John Bissell, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Origin. “We anticipate that other regions will soon follow the EU’s lead in adopting tethered beverage cap requirements. With our cutting-edge PET cap technology and manufacturing systems, we are well-positioned to address the $65 billion caps and closures market, which currently uses billions of caps that can’t be recycled into new ones, only downcycled.”
Bissell explained, “If caps are to stay connected to bottles, it makes sense to manufacture both from the same material: PET. Otherwise, recycling centers would face challenges separating tethered HDPE or polypropylene caps from PET bottles. Our solution enables the easy recycling of both caps and bottles together, enhancing recycling circularity by increasing material purity and keeping valuable PET plastic in the loop.”
The new tethered PET cap builds on Origin’s previous PET closure innovation, which is the world’s lightest carbonated soft drink (CSD) cap compatible with the PCO 1881 neck finish, and the first PET cap made using 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,” Bissell noted. “We use the PET cap and bottle threads to secure the cap at an angle away from the mouth. This design combines the performance and sustainability benefits of our PET caps—recyclability, extended shelf life, lightweighting, and the use of recycled PET—with a superior user experience. We’ve already seen strong interest in this addition to our PET cap product line.”
Origin’s PCO 1881-compatible caps will be available commercially starting in Q4 2024, with PCO 1881-compatible tethered caps to follow. In collaboration with top-tier partners, Origin is addressing major sustainability challenges, aligning with its core mission to support the global transition to sustainable materials.
