eli5 Why are glass bottles not used more for soft drinks if plastic is such a nightmare for the planet?
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Everything other people have said is absolutely right (consumers would rather buy it in a plastic bottle). But there is a widespread misconception that glass bottles are always better for the environment.
Since glass recycling is basically melting the glass and making a new bottle, this takes quite an amount of energy.
If the glass bottles are transported far distances, they need much more gasoline, since they are heavier than plastic. So if you don’t have a regional bottling plant as well as a regional glass recycling plant, plastic bottles are “less worse” than glass bottles.
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