Bottle Cap Challenge: Other ways to unscrew the caps

It started out as a bet: Taekwondo world champion Farabi Davletchin unscrewed the cap on a beverage bottle using the tip of his foot whilst in mid turn – and challenged action-film star Jason Statham to follow suit. Statham didn’t take long to respond and before long, this private feud became a viral hit.

Celebrities around the world have since matched the initiators of the Bottle Cap Challenge: From Justin Bieber, Tom Cruise and professional footballer Marco Reus to teen idol Mike Singer and the Stuttgart police, A and B-listers are astonishing their viewers and making them laugh. However, not all of them follow the original to a t: Kendall Jenner, for example, zones in on her bottle on a jet ski on the ocean and opens the screw cap that way. And thanks to Mariah Carey, the world now knows that hitting the high notes is another convenient way of opening the screw caps on beverage packaging. The videos are all shown in slow motion – so if you’re looking to join the challenge, you have all the time in the world to study the necessary movements demonstrated by the celebrities.

RECYCLING BOTTLE CAPS

Besides providing entertainment in the Bottle Cap Challenge video clips, beverage bottle caps have also taken centre stage in the packaging industry. In its single-use plastics directive, for example, the EU parliament has defined regulations according to which bottle caps are to be firmly attached to beverage packaging in future. From the critics’ point of view, this not only renders the recycling process more difficult; according to a recent study by consulting company PriceWaterhouseCoopers, firmly attaching caps to bottles could increase annual plastics consumption by 50,000 to 200,000 tonnes. In Germany, the majority of consumers return their reusable bottles along with the caps, which the sieve drum in the materials recovery facility then automatically separates from the bottles.

EASY-TO-OPEN BOTTLES

Another item that keeps returning to the to-do list for packaging developers is how to make opening bottle caps easier. Senior citizens and children in particular often find opening tightly closed screw and pull caps challenging. Equipping plastic bottles with tamper-proof induction seals currently requires a procedure that comprises four steps, which a Dutch company has now reduced to just one: Instead of unscrewing the cap, peeling the flap off the foil, pulling off the induction seal and re-screwing the cap, mayonnaise, ready-made sauces and the like can now be opened with one hand, using a push-to-open system with an integrated foil punch system, spring hinge and an in-mould label.

MALIBU RUM BOTTLES NOW EQUIPPED WITH NFC 

Integrating near-field communication (NFC) technologies into beverage bottle caps is just as customer-friendly, and increases customer loyalty at the same time. These technologies allow consumers to access goodies such as recipes for drinks and competitions via their smartphones, and also enables them to contact manufacturers, such as wineries, to obtain information on grapes, storage and much more. Intelligent packaging also offers substantial benefits when it comes to quality control and possible recall processes. Sensors that are integrated in the bottle caps, for example, can help identify and locate specific shipments.

In the USA, a total of 300,000 bottles with these innovative caps were launched on the market as part of the 2019 Malibu Games. When combined with a QR code, the near-field communication technology that has been integrated into the aluminium bottle caps allows consumers to access exclusive Malibu Games content on the spot. This includes games that can be played on mobile phones, recipes for drinks and competitions.

FONT VELLA'S INTELLIGENT BOTTLE CAP

The intelligent bottle caps on Font Vella, Danone’s Spanish mineral water brand, records the user’s water consumption and uses a flashing signal to automatically alert them if their fluid intake is insufficient. This is supported by an app that takes the consumer’s individual parameters into account. The clip is equipped with sensors and covers the bottle cap, which in turn guarantees that there is no contact between the water and the device. The innovation was launched on the market in 2019 and is thought to be the first bottle of its kind in Europe.