Guardian Pollution

EU Bottle Cap Rule Reduces Plastic Waste, Challenges Deregulation Arguments

Supporters of deregulation want Europe to be more like the US. But that would serve only American interests In July 2024, a European Union law came into force requiring plastic bottle caps to remain attached to their bottles. The regulation was widely mocked by social-media jokesters and Silicon Valley billionaires alike. This, people said, was Brussels at its worst: bureaucrats micromanaging, treating citizens like children who couldn’t be trusted to recycle a cap. What went almost entirely unr