Even if some of these containers are better than others, all of them have an environmental impact. The best option would be to phase out single-use packaging entirely, and introduce a system of reusing containers. Think self-serve drinks machines in local shops, where you could fill a bottle that you bring from home, or bottle return and reuse schemes.
Coke Aluminum Bottle Where To Buy
Reducing waste and reusing materials, where possible, should come before recycling something. By reusing bottles, we reduce the amount of single-use packaging that needs to be created, reducing waste and a whole host of global environmental problems.
A comparison by treehugger concluded that a tetrapak of milk has considerably lower carbon footprint than reusable glass bottles due to material and weight. The challenge though is whether the tetrapak can be recycled which depends on where you live. The total greenhouse gas emissions for the manufacture of the packaging and the transportation, all other things being assumed equal, are 265 grams for the glass, 101 grams for the plastic jug, and 32 for the tetrapak. If the glass is reused 30 times it gets closer to tetrapak but that excludes the collection and transportation back to where the milk is produced.
The beverage giant will start to sell Dasani water in aluminum cans next month in the Northeast and plans to expand distribution to other parts of the country by 2020, according to Bloomberg. Aluminum bottles will follow the aluminum cans. Worldwide, aluminum is exponentially more likely to be recycled and to be made from recycled material. Additionally, aluminum is far less likely to end up in oceans and rivers.
Since the M5 bottles were so successful, Coca-Cola decided to roll out the aluminum bottles on a more permanent basis. Aluminum bottles entered the US market in 2007, two years after the first one launched.
"The first-ever fully shaped aluminum bottle was considered by many to be the biggest packaging breakthrough at Coke since the launch of the contour PET bottle in the 1980s," said Jay Moye, editor-in-chief of Coca-Cola Journey.
A chemical called BPA (bisphenol A) used to be a common ingredient in plastic bottles, but most manufacturers have phased it out after it was found to possibly cause hormonal imbalances. The compound is still found in the epoxy lining of some aluminum cans, though, and a 2014 study showed that BPA leaching from cans can increase blood pressure, raising the risk of heart disease.
While aluminum is a sustainable resource and is 100% recyclable, the process to get aluminum from the mineral bauxite means ripping it out of the earth. Making a virgin aluminum can is estimated to exhaust about twice as much energy as creating a glass bottle, so if you're concerned about the environment, a bottle may be the better buy.
The shift means 7.5-ounce "mini-cans" and 8-ounce and 8.5-ounce glass and aluminum bottles are taking up more space on supermarket shelves. The cans and bottles have been around for a few years, but Coke and Pepsi are making them more widely available and marketing them more aggressively.
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