• PugJesus@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    18
    arrow-down
    5
    ·
    1 month ago

    But… but… Glass is not single use.

    When used for mass-produced beverages it very much is. Hell, plenty of beverages still use disposable glass bottles today, and that’s not even getting into the fact that glass bottles use to be the standard, which is part of the reason why there’s so much nostalgia around them.

    In the same vein, plastic is not inherently single-use. If we’re comparing multi-use plastic and multi-use glass, then the same calculus applies.

    • reallykindasorta@slrpnk.net
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      18
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      1 month ago

      But in the meme it’s the kind of milk bottle you return to the store for $ and they wash and refill it. Not really covered by that study I don’t think

      glass bottles have a more damaging overall effect, largely because they are heavier and require more energy for their production.

    • jmcs@discuss.tchncs.de
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      9
      ·
      1 month ago

      Lots of countries have deposits on bottles and they will very much be reused. If that’s not being done it’s a cultural/political problem not a glass bottle problem.

    • Madison420@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      7
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 month ago

      It’s mostly just the us that no longer have recycling for bottles. Most modern countries have automated collection machines.

        • Madison420@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          3
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          1 month ago

          I know, what I’m saying is no glass bottle is explicitly non recyclable there’s just a lack of ability to recycle in the us for whatever dumb business monster reasoning.

          • PugJesus@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            5
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            1 month ago

            Single-use bottles includes recyclable bottles. The point of single-use is that they’re discarded in some way by the consumer at the end of use, including discarded via recycling, not retained.

              • PugJesus@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                5
                arrow-down
                1
                ·
                1 month ago

                They’re only single use if they aren’t recycled, the article states that as well.

                … would you care to quote that, because I’m pretty sure it says otherwise.

                • Madison420@lemmy.world
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  1
                  arrow-down
                  2
                  ·
                  1 month ago

                  But as these bottles are largely single-use, many of them are discarded and dumped in the earth’s ecosystems, where they constitute a significant portion of all environmental waste.

                  They only counted recyclable bottles as single use if discarded anywhere but a recycling center assuming they may or may not be recycled so they assume it’s trash until it’s recycled or degraded.

                  • PugJesus@lemmy.world
                    link
                    fedilink
                    English
                    arrow-up
                    3
                    arrow-down
                    1
                    ·
                    1 month ago

                    They only counted recyclable bottles as single use if discarded anywhere but a recycling center

                    That’s literally not what the quote says.

    • lengau@midwest.social
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      6
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      1 month ago

      I’ve yet to see a reusable plastic milk bottle. The glass bottle pictured is literally one that you return to the store for a deposit and they return to the dairy, where it gets sterilised and reused. These are quite common where I live, and the plastic alternative is single-use “recyclable” plastic.

    • ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      1 month ago

      Except for the past 100 years glass recycling and re-use has been a net loss, on who pays for it, who wants to do it, who still just throws stuff out, and how it’s implemented. Back in the 70’s, when soda was in glass, something like 3% of the bottles were being returned.