Which kind of packaging is best ?

When comparing food packaged in cans, glass jars, or plastic jars.





Which uses the least resources... is less harmful... and is easier to recycle ?



From what I have read, the best for recycling is glass jars. The glass industry knows that recycling glass jars to make new glass uses 30% less energy than starting from scratch, so they use as much recycled glass as possible, and glass bottles and jars are the best source. Glass from windows and other sources has impurities (coatings,etc) that make it less easily recycled.


Plastic jars give off some pollution when recycled, so they are the least eco-friendly of your list. Cans can be and are recycled but some have interior coatings that are not good for recycling. Use glass containers whenever possible.




Best is not using packaged foods. Fresh is the place to be.





There%26#039;s really too many environmental inputs to answer this question in cold hard facts.





Glass is the best in terms of how it%26#039;s manufactured and recycled, but because it%26#039;s heavier it uses more fuel to transport. Not all types of glass can be recycled (mostly ones that contain metallic elements) so you%26#039;d need to specify the type of glass. Where the package is manufactured and recycled also plays in to the fuel miles portion of the equation.





Plastics contain a lot of chemicals and give off more pollution in the recycling process. Again, not all can be recycled effectively, so check the package, look for the triangle, and study up on what numbers your recycling center accepts.





Metals require resource extraction and a lot of machinery, fuel, transportation, and local degradation is involved. In many places, metals are also smelted with charcoal, which means lots of wood. In others the factories use fossil fuels.





At the end of the day I use glass where I can because it%26#039;s more durable and I can re-use it safely 1000%26#039;s of times before it hits the recycling bin.




Actually from what i%26#039;ve heard there is a kind of plastic, made from corn, that uses less overall energy than other kinds of container. However this is not widely used so make sure.




i have heard that there is no limit to how many times a peice of metal can be recycled, so probably metel cans. of course, the best packaging in no packaging.




I prefer to buy my fresh veal chops when they are wrapped in whale blubber.


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