I was under the impression that the glass was actually better, since the cans require a plastic lining to not ruin the beer and the bottles can either be recycled and reused as-is after a wash or ground up and remelted with little/no loss in quality.
The lining in question is very thin (akin to a layer of paint) and just burns up when the cans are re-melted.
Recycling beer bottles is indeed pretty easy once you get them to the processing center intact, but it’s getting there that’s the hard part. They’re fragile, pretty heavy and don’t stack well unless you put them in some form of packaging.
Once they’re broken, they’re basically useless; glass isn’t recycled much except as grit material for sandpaper; re-melting it is resource-intensive and sensitive to impurities.
There’s no plastic in an aluminum can. Both glass and aluminum are almost totally recycled into their base materials. Aluminum is lighter to transport to and from the recycling facility.
The inside of the can is lined by spray coating an epoxy lacquer or polymer to protect the aluminum from being corroded by acidic contents such as carbonated beverages and imparting a metallic taste to the beverage
Guess it depends on your definition of “plastic” and if someone would colloquially refer to an epoxy lining as plastic. Not here to debate word meanings but there is definitely a liner inside aluminum cans.
Looking it up now, it looks like there are multiple alternative linings which are being phased in and/or proposed, but every can still has some sort of lining, whether an epoxy or other similar material to protect the contents of the can from the aluminum or vice versa.
EDIT: whether or not this lining outweighs the additional transport and processing costs of glass (remelting/shaping glass is much more energy intensive than aluminum reporcessing as I understand it) was the question I was proposing and one I don’t have an answer for.
I was under the impression that the glass was actually better, since the cans require a plastic lining to not ruin the beer and the bottles can either be recycled and reused as-is after a wash or ground up and remelted with little/no loss in quality.
The plastic lining is for soda - beer tends to be less acidic and so doesn’t need it. (at least in general)
Cans must be recyclable as well as they come with a deposit and many people return them to recycling centers.
But they aren’t reusable, which is always the preferable option.
The lining in question is very thin (akin to a layer of paint) and just burns up when the cans are re-melted.
Recycling beer bottles is indeed pretty easy once you get them to the processing center intact, but it’s getting there that’s the hard part. They’re fragile, pretty heavy and don’t stack well unless you put them in some form of packaging.
Once they’re broken, they’re basically useless; glass isn’t recycled much except as grit material for sandpaper; re-melting it is resource-intensive and sensitive to impurities.
There’s no plastic in an aluminum can. Both glass and aluminum are almost totally recycled into their base materials. Aluminum is lighter to transport to and from the recycling facility.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminum_can
Guess it depends on your definition of “plastic” and if someone would colloquially refer to an epoxy lining as plastic. Not here to debate word meanings but there is definitely a liner inside aluminum cans.
What I was referring to was the BPA lining traditionally found in cans: https://www.beeradvocate.com/articles/15869/bisphenol-pale-ale-should-you-be-worried-about-the-bpa-in-your-beer-can/
Looking it up now, it looks like there are multiple alternative linings which are being phased in and/or proposed, but every can still has some sort of lining, whether an epoxy or other similar material to protect the contents of the can from the aluminum or vice versa.
EDIT: whether or not this lining outweighs the additional transport and processing costs of glass (remelting/shaping glass is much more energy intensive than aluminum reporcessing as I understand it) was the question I was proposing and one I don’t have an answer for.
What aluminum cans are you getting that don’t have a plastic lining?
No, they absolutely exist, you just seem to be ignorant. https://www.sciencealert.com/viral-video-reveals-the-bizarre-way-you-can-make-a-soda-can-fully-transparent