‘RecycleBox’ aims to ease shortage of plastic bottle closures caused by lockdown

First Mile and Delphis Eco have called for bottle closure recycling, with supplies disrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Spotted: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused disruptions to various supply chains that we tend to take for granted. One of these is plastic bottle closures, which have faced global shortages due to the fact that two key locations of manufacturing are China and Northern Italy, which were two of the first countries to go into a strict lockdown. UK-based recycling company First Mile, in collaboration with Delphis Eco, has come up with a simple solution to tackle this problem across the country, urging households to recycle their bottle closures.  

This has involved the launch of a free courier collection service, “RecycleBox”. The service will collect plastic bottle caps and closures from households, which First Mile will sort, clean and then ship to Delphis Eco, to refill and reuse. UK households who wish to participate in the scheme can place their plastic bottles and closures in an empty cardboard box and book a free collection via RecycleBox. Trigger sprays, hand soap pumps and flip-top caps are among other forms of bottle closures accepted by the service.

Although some bottles may end up looking a bit odd with their mismatched tops, people are still getting the products they need. This small action could make a huge difference in getting much-needed cleaning and sanitising products to those most vulnerable to COVID-19 infection.

Explore more: Retail Innovations | COVID-19 Innovations