{"id":13454,"date":"2026-09-16T14:44:53","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T11:44:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/?p=13454"},"modified":"2026-09-16T14:44:53","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T11:44:53","slug":"sup-guidelines-mixed-material-caps-update-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/sup-guidelines-mixed-material-caps-update-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Commission Updates Single-Use Plastics Guidelines to Clarify Mixed-Material Cap Requirements"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">On 8 September 2026, the European Commission published an <a href=\"https:\/\/eur-lex.europa.eu\/legal-content\/EN\/TXT\/?uri=OJ:C_202604813\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">updated version<\/a> of its guidelines on single-use plastic products under <a href=\"https:\/\/eur-lex.europa.eu\/eli\/dir\/2019\/904\/oj\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Directive (EU) 2019\/904<\/a> (the Single-Use Plastics Directive, SUPD). The update makes a single but practically significant change: the addition of a new example in the section on caps, lids and covers, addressing a mixed-material closure that had previously lacked explicit guidance.<\/p><div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_87 ez-toc-wrap-center counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title ez-toc-toggle\" style=\"cursor:pointer\">TABLE OF CONTENTS<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/sup-guidelines-mixed-material-caps-update-2026\/#What_Changed\" >What Changed<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/sup-guidelines-mixed-material-caps-update-2026\/#Why_This_Matters\" >Why This Matters<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/sup-guidelines-mixed-material-caps-update-2026\/#Conclusion\" >Conclusion<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_Changed\"><\/span><strong>What Changed<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The update adds one new entry to <strong>Table 4-6<\/strong> in <strong>Section 4.4.2<\/strong> of the guidelines, which lists illustrative examples of caps, lids and covers and their status under the tethered caps requirement in <strong>Article 6(1)<\/strong> of the SUPD.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The new entry covers a plastic cap used in combination with an aluminium foil lid sealed on a single-use plastic beverage container. This closure type is commonly found on HDPE bottles used for UHT-processed milk. <strong>UHT (Ultra-High Temperature) <\/strong>processing treats milk at high temperatures (typically 135-150 \u00b0C for 1-4 seconds) to achieve commercial sterility, allowing it to be safely stored at ambient temperatures without refrigeration. The classification is &#8220;partially included&#8221;: the plastic cap is subject to the tethering requirement, meaning it must remain attached to the container during the product&#8217;s intended use stage. The aluminium foil lid, however, is not considered to be made of plastic under Article 6(2) and is therefore exempt from tethering.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">This is the only change in the updated guidelines. All other sections, definitions and examples remain unchanged from the original 2021 version.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-13440\" src=\"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/16092-1024x768.png\" alt=\"Single-use HDPE milk bottles with tethered caps and mixed-material foil closures under SUP Directive guidelines\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/16092-1024x768.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/16092-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/16092-768x576.png 768w, https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/16092.png 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_This_Matters\"><\/span><strong>Why This Matters<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The tethered caps requirement has been mandatory since <strong>3 July 2024<\/strong> for all single-use plastic beverage containers with a capacity of up to three litres. The requirement means that plastic caps and lids must remain attached to the container during the product&#8217;s intended use.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The practical challenge with mixed-material closures (those combining a plastic cap with a non-plastic seal or lid) is that Article 6(2) of the SUPD explicitly states that metal caps or lids with plastic seals are not to be considered as made of plastic. This creates a boundary question: when a closure system combines both a plastic element and a metal element, which parts are subject to tethering and which are not?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">For the dairy industry in particular, this question had practical urgency. HDPE milk bottles sealed with an aluminium foil lid and a separate plastic screw cap are a standard packaging format in several EU markets. Before this update, the guidelines did not include an explicit example of this combination, leaving producers to interpret the rules on a case-by-case basis.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The updated guidelines resolve this by confirming the &#8220;partially included&#8221; classification. Dairy producers and their packaging suppliers can now design their closure systems with certainty: the plastic cap must be tethered, but the aluminium foil seal does not need to be. This applies to any beverage container using the same mixed-material closure principle, not only to milk bottles.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Conclusion\"><\/span><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The update to the SUP guidelines is narrow, one new example in one table, but it resolves a practical classification question that has been open since the tethered caps requirement took effect in July 2024. Producers of HDPE milk bottles and similar formats now have explicit confirmation: the plastic cap must be tethered but the foil is not subject to the requirement.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The updated guidelines are available through the <a href=\"https:\/\/eur-lex.europa.eu\/legal-content\/EN\/TXT\/?uri=OJ:C_202604813\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Official Journal of the European Union<\/a> (C\/2026\/4813, published 8 September 2026).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The European Commission has updated its Single-Use Plastics guidelines to add a new example on mixed-material closures: plastic caps used with aluminium foil lids must be tethered, while the foil seal is exempt under Article 6(2).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":13440,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,540],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-en","category-regulations-policy-en","category-28","category-540","description-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13454"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13454\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13456,"href":"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13454\/revisions\/13456"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}