Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Rubber News
Subscribe
  • Login
  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • Digital Edition
    • End Markets
    • Special Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Resin pricing news
    • Videos
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • CEO Issue
    • Diversity
    • Best Places to Work
      • 2022 winners
    • Processor of the Year
    • Rising Stars
    • Women Breaking the Mold
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • One Good Resin
    • BRICS and Plastics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • From Pillar to Post
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Fake Plastic Trees
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
  • Events
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Editorial Livestreams
    • Ask the Expert
    • Plastics News Events Library
    • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Plastics News Caps & Closures
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
    • Plastics in Automotive
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Reuters Responsible Business Europe 2022
    • Reifenhäuser Technologies Livestreams
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Numbers that Matter Live
    • Plastics in Politics Live
    • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
  • Resin Prices
    • All Resins
    • Commodity TPs
    • High Temp TPs
    • ETPs
    • Thermosets
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
    • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
    • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Historic Thermosets
    • Historic Recycled Plastics
  • Rankings & Data
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Directory
  • Custom
    • Sponsored Content
    • Conair Sponsored Content
    • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • Classifieds
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
September 18, 2013 02:00 AM

Industry making a new push to recycle plastic caps

Jim Johnson
Staff Writer
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Print
    Jim Johnson
    Roy Robinson

    LINCOLNSHIRE, ILL. — Consumers, for years, were told to take the caps off their plastic bottles before recycling.

    While that made sense back in the day, that approach also led to countless plastic caps finding their way into landfills and the environment.

    These days, with improved sorting and recycling technologies, those same caps can remain on the bottles and instead wind up with a useful afterlife.

    But the problem is this that many folks don't realize that caps now can stay in place.

    "These plastic caps have a lot of value," said Roy Robinson, vice president of business development at Portola Packaging Inc., at the Plastic Caps & Closures 2013 conference organized by Plastics News in Lincolnshire.

    So the Caps On program was born a couple of years ago to provide public education about the shift in thinking. Along the way, however, the effort lost steam when the Closure & Container Manufacturers Association, where Caps On was born, merged into the International Society of Beverage Technologists.

    But now, months after the merger, there's an opportunity to again focus on the program and restart the public awareness campaign.

    While the caps are small, the opportunity to reduce waste is actually great as there are an estimated 250 billion caps produced from polypropylene or polyethylene each year.

    "It's a lot of plastic," Robinson said. A billion and a half pounds worth.

    The initial push with the Caps On program was to try to engage waste haulers and material recovery facilities, hoping they would then educate their customers about the benefits of leaving the caps on recycled bottles.

    That outreach is still important, but the program now hopes to also spread the word more quickly by getting beverage makers involved.

    Nestle Waters has shown interest in promoting the message, and Caps On hopes to attract other major companies such as Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo Inc. to help spread the world through their public outreach.

    The goal, Robinson said, is "the adoption by the CPGs [consumer packaged goods companies] to get onboard, the retail companies, because they are touching people," Robinson said.

    "The waste haulers and municipalities can probably talk all they want about putting the closure back on the bottle, but I think that CPGs and the retail guys have the money, they have the communication links to the consumer. And if you can get them to drive it, I think you will see increased rates," he said.

    "It's still a learning process. It's still in its infancy in getting the message out," Robinson said.

    Mike Cappelli is marketing manager for caps and closures at Nova Chemicals Inc. and is involved with the Caps On program.

    CCMA's move to join up with ISBT provides an opportunity to promote the program, he said. ISBT has more beverage industry members.

    "I hope this doesn't sound too Polyanna-ish. A small change of behavior can make a difference. We're not asking people to change their lifestyle. We're not asking people to buy another recycling bin. We're not asking people to bag up caps and drive across town to put them in some special bin. We're asking people to take an extra three seconds," Cappelli said.

    Laura Olsen is in marketing communications for Portola Packaging, so it's not surprising that she believes engaging the both ISBT members and general public is a key. But she realizes that also will not be easy.

    "That's our challenge, that's our call to action," she said. "I think we're in the planning stage in how we're going to get interest and people on board with us from ISBT," Olsen said.

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    Half of Phillips 66 shareholders urge study on risk of investing in virgin plastic
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

    Most Popular
    1
    Report says plastics have positive role in climate fight
    2
    Stellantis rescinds ‘burdensome' contract terms for suppliers
    3
    SK Capital buys additives maker Valtris Specialty
    4
    ExxonMobil set to bring on new olefinic elastomer capacity
    5
    Viking Plastics invests $3 million in eight new injection molding machines
    SIGN UP FOR TO RECEIVE THESE EMAILS AND ENEWSLETTERS
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe today

    Subscribe to Plastics News

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

    Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.

    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI 48207-2997

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1723

    Resources
    • About
    • Staff
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Media Kit
    • Data Store
    • Digital Edition
    • Custom Content
    • People
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Sitemap
    Related Crain Publications
    • Sustainable Plastics
    • Rubber News
    • Urethanes Technology
    • European Rubber Journal
    • Tire Business
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2022. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Processor News
        • Injection Molding
        • Blow Molding
        • Film & Sheet
        • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
        • Rotomolding
        • Thermoforming
        • Recycling
      • Suppliers
        • Machinery
        • Materials
        • Molds/Tooling
        • Product news
        • Design
      • More News
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
      • Digital Edition
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • Special Reports
        • CEO Issue
        • Diversity
        • Best Places to Work
          • 2022 winners
        • Processor of the Year
        • Rising Stars
        • Women Breaking the Mold
      • Newsletters
      • Resin pricing news
      • Videos
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • One Good Resin
      • BRICS and Plastics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • From Pillar to Post
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
      • Fake Plastic Trees
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
        • Plastics News Caps & Closures
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
        • Plastics in Automotive
      • Industry Events
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Livestreams/Webinars
        • Reuters Responsible Business Europe 2022
        • Reifenhäuser Technologies Livestreams
      • Editorial Livestreams
        • Polymer Points Live
        • Numbers that Matter Live
        • Plastics in Politics Live
        • Sustainable Plastics Live
      • Ask the Expert
      • Plastics News Events Library
        • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
        • Plastics in Healthcare Library
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
      • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Resin Prices
      • All Resins
      • Commodity TPs
        • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temp TPs
        • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
      • ETPs
        • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Thermosets
        • Historic Thermosets
      • Recycled Plastics
        • Historic Recycled Plastics
    • Rankings & Data
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Directory
    • Custom
      • Sponsored Content
      • Conair Sponsored Content
      • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified