After the attached caps, another change regarding plastic bottles is imposed by the European Union.
The plastic caps attached to the bottles are not the only changes made to the water or soda bottles. You may not have noticed it yet, but another major change has been applied to our bottles and other packaging since August 12, 2026.
Remember, on July 3, 2024, the appearance of plastic caps welded to bottles. This novelty, which had taken several months to be accepted by consumers, aimed to prevent the capsules from being thrown into nature and now allows them to be better recycled. Since the beginning of August, the European Union has decided to go further and apply a new strict regulation to all packaging and waste, whether plastic or not.
But then, what does this new regulation really contain? The latter is introducing « minimum rates of recycled materials for each type of plastic packaging by 2030, » explains the EUR Lex portal. Clearly, the goal is to greatly reduce the use of single-use packaging within 4 years. Thus, all packaging on the market must be recyclable, or at least partially, by January 1, 2030. The EU will therefore require that 40% of transport packaging be reusable, to achieve a target of 70% by 2040.
All packaging « aimed at increasing the perceived volume of the product », such as double-walled or double-bottomed, will also be prohibited from 2030. They will not be authorized on one condition: to be protected by rights to designs or by trademarks.
Be careful, some consumers could be destabilized by this new regulation. Recycled materials are never perfectly transparent, the bottles on the shelf can gradually change color, until they take on a slightly grayish, yellowish or unattractive milky hue. « This has no impact on the taste or health safety of the drink, » promises the European Union.
