Keeping all parts together means both cap and bottle stay in the recycling loop and out of the environment – while supporting a future Deposit Return Scheme. 

Caps are often lost or discarded, so this change will help reduce littering.  Highland Spring bottles and caps have been 100% recyclable for many years. This change will make it even easier to give them another life. 

YOUR QUESTIONS, ANSWERED 

Why are some of your bottle caps now attached? 
We want to make it even easier to recycle Highland Spring bottles at home and on-the-go by keeping the cap attached to the bottle. We are gradually moving to attached caps across our whole PET plastic bottle range over the next 12 months. 

What are the benefits of this change? 
By attaching the cap to the rest of the bottle, we believe there will be fewer discarded caps – either by accident or through littering. Plus, more will stay in the loop and be recycled.  

This is not a UK requirement so why change? 
Attached caps for plastic drinks bottles (of up to 3 litre capacity) will become mandatory in July 2024 across the EU. We want to help create a truly circular economy in the UK and this change supports that ambition. 

I don’t like the new attached caps – can you change them back? 
This is a small but permanent change to our bottle design. It will have a big impact by making it even easier to recycle Highland Spring bottles and caps at home and on-the-go. 

Aren’t plastic bottles just single-use anyway? 
All Highland Spring PET plastic bottles and caps – and the vast majority of all plastic bottles across the UK – are 100% recyclable , so they can be given another life. 

Can the bottle caps really be recycled? 
Yes. All the caps used on Highland Spring PET plastic bottles are 100% recyclable.

Why not just switch entirely to glass or cans for your water? 
Switching all current consumption of plastic packaging, on a like for like basis, to other currently-used materials could almost triple carbon emissions.  Although we do use glass in some of our bottles, this is not a realistic alternative for us to use across all our range. This is due to issues with lack of glass availability in the UK and the fact it takes more energy to produce and transport glass. 

Additionally, there are practical reasons for using plastic for our water – cans cannot be resealed like bottles, which is important as water is often drunk over a number of hours or on-the-go. 

What is the best way to open and close the bottle? 
These new bottles have been extensively tested to give you the best experience when drinking Highland Spring. We recommend you don’t remove the cap from the bottle neck, or twist or bend it. When closing, always make sure the cap lines up with the grooves in the bottle neck to prevent leaks.  

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