You get up in the morning, walk into the bathroom and are happy once again that you switched your skincare regime to clean & safe alternatives; they contain organic ingredients, just the best that nature has to offer for your skin. But wait — given all your eco-awareness, how can you be holding a PLASTIC container in your hand? Wouldn’t it be healthier for you (and the environment) if all those lovely creams, cleansers — even the water bottles we drink from — came in glass containers? On which material does the ray of truth shine in the hot topic of ‘glass versus plastic’?
Both are made from non-renewable resources — glass is produced mainly from silica (i.e. finely ground sand), whereas plastic is derived from petrochemicals (i.e. oil). Sand is still abundant on earth; oil is not. Furthermore, the extraction & processing of petrochemicals is environmentally far more damaging than sand mining.
On one hand, PET (polyethylene terephthalate) — the material most plastic water or soft drink bottles are made of — is said to be one of the most eco-friendly plastic materials there is; it doesn’t release any harmful gases when burnt, nor does it contain any of the more harmful chemicals (like bisphenol-A or phtalates). During the processing of PET raw material, however, small particles and so-called ‘pellets’ tend to leak into the environment, and this runoff eventually makes its way into the ocean. As “eco-friendly” as PET might be when burnt, tossed plastic never really decomposes; it instead pollutes the environment for an indefinite period of time.
On the other hand, the process used to manufacture glass consumes extreme amounts of energy. The sand first needs to be melted at a temperature of over 1500°C, and a good portion of those furnaces are fueled by oil (while others are use natural gas).
After production and before recycling, both glass and plastic containers need to travel to their destination. Since glass is a lot heavier & bulkier than plastic, glass bottles definitely leave the stronger carbon footprint in this regard. A heavier load of bulky items means the need for more fuel and more trips, both of which ultimately contributes to global warming. Shipping plastic is actually much more fuel efficient, as it is lighter and can be easily compressed.
Glass is inert, non-toxic and easy to clean & maintain. Though as we’ve said, it is heavy to carry around and also prone to breakage. Plastic is easy to lift & durable; however, it is not as heat-resistant as glass, and exposure to heat (e.g. while cooking, or after long exposure to the sun) will break down its components and release harmful substances. Thinking green, we would probably want to reuse our glass or plastic bottles. And that’s no problem with glass; just refill your container with new content. But with plastic, you’ll need to be a bit more cautious, as non-PET packaging is often not designed for long-term food storage; it may leach dangerous chemicals over extended periods of time.
Now let’s move beyond our small individual eco-efforts and see the bigger ‘recycling’ picture. What happens to glass & plastic in their afterlife?
Glass never degrades; using recycled content in the production of glass also saves energy, since a lower production temperature is needed. One of the main advantages when recycling glass is exactly that: it is recyclable without limit, even while maintaining its quality. New products can easily be packaged in recycled glass, though not all glass is recycled, particularly in countries that don’t impose a bottle deposit. In these cases, glass is sometimes used as a pavement additive or landfill cover. It takes forever for glass to decompose, but at least it doesn’t pose an immediate threat to the environment. It is just melted sand after all 🙂
Plastic is lightweight, easy-to-transport & potentially recyclable. PET-bottles make for a good example: old bottles are partly recycled into new bottles or other useful things like packaging, fillers or textiles — to name but a few. However, not all plastic containers are PET-containers; there are lots of different types of plastic used for different purposes, and those different types of plastic can’t all be recycled together. Hence why they display the recycling symbol on labels and numbers on all plastic product displays (or shall we say “should” display!).
Thus, through a mixture of public laziness and federal negligence, not all plastic ends up being recycled… a situation which, in turn, adds to landfill & waste dumps. Although new research found that plastic degrades faster than previously expected (400 years), this is not necessarily good news. As mentioned before, unsafe chemicals can be leached into the environment; via consumption by animals & plants, they eventually find their way into our food chain.
Plastic that has can through the process of combustion can be a clean & potent source of energy. To achieve this, recycling must take place in a controlled setting (i.e. a modern waste-to-energy facility with air pollution controls); then the burning of plastic won’t generate emissions as hazardous as other carbon-based fuels, like oil or coal. There’s also a lot of research that’s been done regarding the development of biodegradable plastics; they would decompose into material components much less dangerous to the environment than their predecessors.
In the end, it’s rather hard to compare the effects glass and plastic each have on the environment. So many factors play into the equation: where/how is it sourced & produced, what the recycling process is, and — probably the most crucial point — the method & distance it will be shipped. Each has a large enough impact on the environment as it is, and although glass performs better in terms of manufacture & recycling, the perceived gap between the carbon footprint of their respective life cycles is diminished by long shipping distances.
At the end of the day, it’s a very personal decision to make. Because without knowing the details of the material’s origin & production, shipping & recycling processes, it is a nearly desperate endeavor to make an ecologically & ethically correct choice.
Tags: Conscious Consumer, Environment
Good things come in small packages. That's certainly true for Lulu, one of the driving forces behind Amazingy.com. Luise is a true multi-talent. From writing great articles (in two languages!), to doing research or giving the best customer service ever... Lu delivers!
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I would refer that you use glass bottles due to the fact that glass bottles due to its non-reactive nature helps in keeping the filtered water pure and fresh without any risks of chemicals contaminating the water. Secondly glass bottles are easier to clean, moreover, you can store water in glass bottles for longer period of time and store inside you refrigerator the water will remain crisp, pure and fresh. However, you must ensure that you use premium quality glass bottles for drinking water, as low quality glass can have negative impact over your health.
