Which Is Greener? Buying Beer In Glass Bottles, Or Aluminum Cans?

Putting aside all other non-environmental arguments in favor of bottles over cans (or vice versa), I would like to discuss the two most common containers for beer as they relate to the impact the consumption of has on our environment. We are going to assume (and really hope) that both are being recycled on the condition that the container is empty after it's contents have been consumed. I suppose this applies to beverages as well. I would like to excluse things like financial impact unless it somehow has downstream environmental effects which may be unlikely but worth considering.

How do they compare in things such as:

* Energy used in manufacture
* Water used in manufacture
* Raw materials used
* Waste produced in manufacture (and the impact of said waste, not all waste is equal in environmental harm)
* Long term sustainability

It is my understanding that both aluminum and glass are both highly recyclable. It is also my understanding that manufacturing an item of either glass or aluminum from recycled material takes far less energy than using virgin material. I'm thinking that the energy savings may be more for glass if one is using the electrolytic process to refine aluminum but I understand that there are other possibly more energy efficient processes in use today. What may be important to consider is how much recycled material is used to produce either a bottle, or a can of beer (or more specifically, the bottle or can itself).

 

I don't know about which is greener for the earth, but I prefer glass, if given the choice, as the aluminum in cans is not good for people...if tiny particles of it get inside of you....and things in glass just seem to taste better.

 

It depends on if the glass is green

 

I was thinking about glass vs aluminum cans........
Moving here......in 2008, and this is a rather huge piece of property.....that was rented to some college students prior to my move here.......I did not see at first, but they used the backwoods here as their dumping grounds for their beer cans and bottles....what a mess....now, the cans were easy to pick up and discard properly, but the glass bottles were all broken in millions of pieces....and there were tons of both.....
ever try picking up small peices of shards of glass all over....? not fun. i still see shimmering pieces from time to time....and i hated it....fear of someone or one of my animals getting cut....etc.....

also, there is something called beach glass.....when someone breaks glass at the beach and it goes unpicked up...it becomes smoothed with no sharp edges from the pounding of the ocean.....and fetches big prices for its beauty sometimes, too....comes in many colors.....but then again....sharp glass there for creatures to get hurt on?
in this case the cans are better for the environment, if people are just throwing them onto grounds......I would think.....not as dangerous......

 

I think it is consumes less energy to recycle glass than aluminum, but don't really know for sure.
Plastic is actually more costly to recycle than to produced new products, but because it soooo plentiful and doesn't bio-degrade rapidly, we see big pushes to recycle plastic.

Paper is probably the cheapest material to recycle.

 

Okay then, I'll start buying beer in paper bottles.

 

What I think about even more is the packaging, which is usually paper or plastic and how wasteful that is to have sometimes multiple layers of plastic packaging over a product. It doesnt seem entirely necessary to be present, and that plastic film is often not recycled, and may not be that recyclable since municipal programs usually dont accept it.

 

Good question - I have no idea which is better. I'd guess that glass may use less energy in re-cycling, but I'm not sure.

 

I am normally Too drunk to give A fuck
But if you drink in the pub the glasses are used over and when you piss in the toilet it goes back in the beer so I guess the answer is 23

 

No sorry I meant 24

 

Yes I would imagine that bottles are better, probably requiring less energy to produce as well as recycle than aluminium,
and using a fairly abundant raw material, though transport energy costs would be higher due to their greater weight.

 

Most aluminum cans are recycled within 6 weeks of being made. It melts at a lower temperature than glass and hydrocarbon fuels do their greatest polluting at higher temperatures. Glass is also much heavier which means any transport will be more expensive per unit than aluminum.

However, when you're talking about beer or wine, glass is the way to go. In the case of beer, the glass should be dark to prevent skunking. While most cans are now lined with a sealing layer, I think beer is better in a bottle. But some soda seems to be better in a can. Go figure.

The most recycled metal on the planet is lead. Plastic is not profitable to recycle and paper is marginal.

 

Lead is something to be wary of?....is that a correct fact?

 

Yep, essentially trading the well being of future generations for some quick cash. Capitalism, ain't it wonderful?

 

Just recycle whatever the fuck you use.

 

the glass is better


mostly because they get re-used after wash and inspection...only the damaged ones get recycled

 

micro-brewing your own in wooden kegs?

 

I could care less which is greener because of this;

Beer definitely tastes better from a bottle.

Fact IMO.

 

You can smash a can all day long and will still be a flat piece of metal. A glass bottle, the more you smash and break it, turns it back to its natural form, sand! Glass is better by far in some places, but a problem in a few.

As mentioned, recycle whatever ya use and will all green!