Plastic caps and lids are the most common waste found on European beaches. The European division of this global beverage company was determined to reduce their plastic waste and play a larger role in the fight against climate change, particularly after new European Union legislation made it mandatory for single-use plastic containers to be designed to reduce the dispersal of caps and lids.
Product designers knew that caps which remain attached to the bottle (tethered caps) could significantly reduce dispersal and waste, but needed to investigate how these caps might impact their consumers. The team participated in the Spark by ExperiencePoint™ episode “The Power of Extremes”, which asked them to consider a broad range of user experiences and find gaps and glitches that could enhance design.
The Spark by ExperiencePoint™ episode prompted designers to consider users outside their traditional buyer base. They discovered that people with limited grip strength, such as seniors and arthritis sufferers, might struggle to open a reinforced cap. They proceeded to define the technical parameters of closures impacting grip-ability and designed a tethered cap that people with limited grip strength could use with ease. The result was a waste-reducing bottle that was attractive and accessible to a range of users.
