WRA is joining environmental groups in urging Australian Governments to mandate tethered bottle caps, stopping millions of bottle tops from being landfilled or littered, after new laws in the EU have successfully come into force.
According to Beach Patrol Australia (BPA), plastic straws and lids used for beverage containers have been amongst the most frequently littered single use plastic items found on Australian beaches. While plastic straws are now banned, littered lids continue to be a major challenge and must be next in line.
“We collect hundreds of lids on our beaches every day. By mandating tethered caps, we can significantly reduce plastic pollution, avoiding millions of bottle tops from leaking into our environments,” says Dr Ross Headifen, Co-Founder of BPA. “Our volunteers simply can’t keep up; we need to stop plastic entering our oceans at the source. It is a simple fix with a big benefit.”
Birte Moliere, Boomerang Alliance Packaging Product Stewardship Lead adds: “Most drink bottles can now be collected for recycling at container refund collection points but bottle tops are not eligible items in most states. As a result, unattached caps that aren’t littered, often end up in landfill. They should be collected and recycled. The best way to make this happen is to tether the lids to the bottles.”