Eli5: Fossil fuel prices have been an issue for years, why is plastic still the cheapest material out there?
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Plastic is not, per se, the cheapest material out there. HDPE is apparently around $815 per metric ton. 17lbs for $6.00ish for bulk studs, so that’s around $780 for a metric ton.
The plastic is a bit more expensive, but unlike wood you can make it into whatever shape you want with almost no waste. This means it is very cheap because you don’t have to buy a ton of extra material.
In addition, injection moulding and other plastic forming processes are way faster, saving on labor costs and factory size.
Because plastic is a byproduct of making gas, as long as fuel is being consumed the materials for making plastic are being made. The product being produced is fuel, plastic just happens to be a happy accident.
it’s easy to make. in fact it’s practically trash made from making gas and diesel.
glass is heavy and reletivly energy intensive, metals are valuable for many other things(cars for example) which raises it’s prices.
plastics themselves are amazing, their great actually it’s their uses as disposable it the real issue
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