How the plastic bottle cap became a parable for the value of EU regulation (opens in new tab)

Supporters of deregulation want Europe to be more like the US. But that would serve only American interestsIn July 2024, a European Union law came into force requiring plastic bottle caps to remain attached to their bottles. The regulation was widely mocked by and alike. This, people said, was Brussels at its worst: bureaucrats micromanaging, treating citizens like children who couldn’t be trusted to recycle a cap.What went almost entirely unreported was the evidence behind it. Plastic bottle...