Coca-Cola has made a big change to its bottles to be more environmentally friendly - but not everyone is happy about it. The move to attached caps began in the summer and is intended to boost recycling and prevent litter.
However some fizzy drinks fans have complained that the decision makes it harder for them to enjoy their favourite carbonated beverage from the bottle. The new attached caps are on the company's entire range, including bottles of Fanta, Coca-Cola Zero and Diet Coke.
Coca-Cola has advertised the change on social media, saying on Twitter: "Our new attached caps make it easier to collect and recycle the whole package. Simply keep the cap attached and recycle together." - but many followers seemed unimpressed.
@strictlysalfie responded: "Since when were the bottle tops attached to the coke bottles?! 1. it’s actually impossible to drink them without the lid hitting your nose and 2. you can barely screw it back on like ffs if you wanna attach it then make it a cap bottle."
BenW told the company: "Not gonna lie. That new attached cap design is annoying". Nicky70606199 said simply: "Cap gets in the way when you drink it", while cossielover1369 branded the change: "Awkward and pointless!"
Rod Ramsay told Coca-Cola: "Attached caps are super-annoying", while dules30 said: "Still needs work on getting it to stay out of the way whilst pouring/drinking & doesn't mean I recycle more as always did..."
Dave Kendall pointed to a practical problem with taking drinks into events, telling the company on Twitter: "You do know that most sports venues in the UK will not allow you to take a bottle with a lid on it inside nor sell you one with a lid?"
Meanwhile others said the company needed to go further to help the planet, with some suggesting it should ditch bottles altogether. Trevor Coultart said: "Not good enough. You need to completely stop using plastics."
Jo Crawford agreed, asking: "How about ditching plastic bottles altogether?" while Lee Holdsworth said: "If we could just go back to glass bottles that would be great".
When the change was announced in May, Coca-Cola Great Britain said the attached lids were a first for a major soft drinks company and would make it easier for consumers to recycle the entire package. The caps are often discarded and littered despite all of Coca-Cola’s bottles, including the caps, being 100% recyclable.
Coca-Cola Great Britain general manager Jon Woods said at the time that it hoped the "small change will have a big impact". He said: "As the world’s biggest drinks company, we recognise that we have a leading role to play in pushing innovation and design to produce more high-quality recycled plastic which can be converted into new bottles."
