It's a shame the beer industry doesn't incentivize the return of these empties. I think overall it could be cost saving to collect, wash, relabel and reuse. And the environmental angle would be huge.
Glass Bottles are Making a Comeback
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It is cost prohibitive to reuse the glass soda/beer bottles.
Understood but manufacturers don’t want to have too many bottling facilities.
We have $0.20 CAD for empty wine bottles and $0.10 for glass or metal beer containers. I remember my brother in Vancouver telling me about a homeless guy who patrolled my brother's area looking for returnable beer or wine bottles, my brother wondered why the guy was ignoring the 1.5L wine bottles? " well they take up too much room in my shopping cart, and pay no more than the 750ml bottles, so it's not efficient "
I think it could very easily be made cost efficient and even profitable, and certainly more long-term sustainable.
Bars no longer paying what must be hundreds of dollars for their rolloff dumpsters 90% full of glass. Put the empties in racks. Beer distributor drops off new beer, gives a credit for empties, returns them on his truck to the distributor who sends them thru machines that wash, sanitize, relabel, reuse.
I cannot see how it's less expensive to harvest raw materials, the energy to make the glass, and ship it to the bottler. And let's assume maybe it's slightly cheaper. It's failure to plan long term or be at all environmentally conscious.
Have you ever seen a dumpster full of glass? It's sad, and it occurs every week at every bar in America. Right to the landfill.
Not true. Our cullet (term for recycled glass) costs are roughly $100-120/ton, while raw materials easily top $160+/ton. We use nearly 5000 tons per day of cullet, mainly from Strategic Materials. Several of our plants have recycling stations run by SMI literally on the same property.
In addition, for every 10% of cullet that makes up the batch formula, there is a savings of 2-3% energy. When you’re using 4.4 million BTU per ton (nat gas, oxy fuel, and electricity) to melt glass, those savings add up when you’re running >50% cullet!
Plus, I truly believe companies should (or be required to) have a more sustainable business model. For too many centuries, companies grab their cash and dump their trash for future generations to deal with. Leaving mountains of pollution - sea, air, land, underground, freshwater lakes and rivers, etc. It sickens me.
I forget the term but it has to do with the back-end costs and burdens, which are not shared by the company but dumped on the public resources, often for disposal, cleanup, etc. Expenses, such as fines for not incorporating such costs, should be leveled against businesses that create massive amounts of trash. In this case, beer and soda bottles. I also have seen cash deposits on glass bottles in other states and nations, 5 cents or the equivalent. Could also be done by the pound. Goes a long way to encouraging recycling.
And it truly is in most businesses best interest and for the community and environment. Raw materials are growing more scarce, more expensive, and landfill space more scarce and expensive.
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You can buy the soda pop syrup )coke, etc. From your local distributor. It comes in a 5 gallon box so you'd better like it. I have done it for nearly 30 years
Sounds like a good litigation environment.
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I believe it's called The Tragedy of the Commons.
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For the exact same reason people who make $50K a year finance $70K luxury cars for 84 months....
Because they're really bad at math?
Mexican Coke (glass bottles made with cane sugar) hit different 🤤
I'll never forgive Snapple for going from glass to plastic
Nothing quenched on a hot August day like an ice cold Snapple Lemon/Peach, the glass just made it taste cold
I'll never forgive Snapple for going from glass to plastic
Nothing quenched on a hot August day like an ice cold Snapple Lemon/Peach, the glass just made it taste cold
Who does that
Also, no self respecting beer connoisseur would drink beer from a can.
No self respecting beer connoisseur would drink beer from the bottle either. Beer is meant to be poured. 🍺🍻😉😎
Glass is reusable and recyclabe, also recycling glass requires a lot of energy. Also, glass is heavy, which means it requires more energy to transport. A lot of transport energy can be saved with platic bottles. Plastic bottles can also be made to be reusable, though usually not as often. Plastic bottles can thus be better for the environment - depending on the length of the logistics chain.
Glass bottles have one advantage, though: They are chemically inert. No chemicals leaking from the bottle into the drink.
Glass bottles have one advantage, though: They are chemically inert. No chemicals leaking from the bottle into the drink.
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I disagree. The only beer that I would specifically request be drawn "vom faß" is a weissbier.
It's not. All beer bottles in Germany are reusable. We still drink beer.
Germany is a smaller country with a brauhaus on every corner.
Also a different culture. Cost prohibitive in Germany and cost prohibitive in the USA do not mean the same thing.
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