Have you noticed that bottles and cartons have gotten harder to open?

It's not just you – bottles and cartons are now harder to open. We found out why. It's not your imagination: Beverage containers for milk, soda and water have gotten harder to open in recent years because their plastic screw top caps have been shortened to save plastic.

Bottles are generally getting harder to open because manufacturers are increasingly designing caps to be smaller and with less grippable surface area, in an effort to reduce plastic usage and minimize packaging weight, making it more difficult to twist them open; this trend is particularly noticeable with plastic water and beverage bottles. Industry officials also say that the reduction in plastic makes the product lighter and less expensive to ship.

Key points about why bottles are harder to open:

• Reduced plastic usage:
• Companies are focused on sustainability by using less plastic in their packaging, which often means smaller and shorter caps with less grip. 
• Smaller cap size:
• The height of the cap is being reduced, making it harder to get a good grip and apply enough torque to open the bottle. 
• Impact on grip strength:
• Smaller caps provide less surface area for fingers to grip, making it more challenging to open the bottle, especially for people with weaker hands