Daniels, J. (2018, March 07). California looks to ban removable plastic bottle caps, restrict plastic straws. Retrieved November 17, 2018, from https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/07/california-targets-removable-plastic-bottle-caps-plastic-straws.html

 

In this article by Jeff Daniels, He explains how California is looking to ban removable bottle caps in favor of ones that are connected to the bottle. Coastal cleanup groups found that bottle caps are the third most common plastic item they find when doing beach clean ups. They end up contributing  to a significant amount of waste. If they were connected to the bottle then they are more likely to find their way into the recycling bin. Bottle manufacturers say that this law will negatively impact small and large businesses and drive costs up for consumers. The article also mentions how the fight against plastic pollution is ever more urgent because China, where much of Americans plastics have been recycled in the past, is now no longer accepting plastic waste.

 

I think that this is a great idea and will result in more bottle caps being recycled. The bottle manufacturers seem to think that educating the public to screw the caps of bottles back on will be just as effective as passing this mandate. I think that that will do little to stop the problem, but having the caps attached will be much more effective and put the responsibility on the plastic producers, not consumers. I don’t think that a small bit of plastic being added to bottles to attach the cap would cost a fortune or cause manufacturers to go out of business. I think it is a necessary cost if we want to stop one of the most prevalent items from polluting the ocean. Bottle caps are found almost everywhere and wildlife often thinks they are food. This law would prevent helpless creatures from dying from ingesting plastics.