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Why can't we just package more food items in aluminum? Every time I read about the mess that is recycling, I am reassured that aluminum is the absolute best cas
by alanbernstein 7y ago
Why can't we just package more food items in aluminum? Every time I read about the mess that is recycling, I am reassured that aluminum is the absolute best case material. Why are we only using it for soda cans?
- jacobolus 7y agoA cylinder full of liquid can be made with very thin walls and still be pretty strong. I would guess that most other kinds of foods need other shapes of packages, for which aluminum is likely to be more expensive than e.g. plastic. Aluminum production takes a ton of energy.
- masklinn 7y agoIt is somewhat common, but usually as a sub-packaging rather than the main e.g. chocolates are commonly individually wrapped in aluminium foil, it's also commonly used for meal trays (but I guess has become less common due to microwaves?). Sealed packets are also commonly foiled though mixed with plastic (for e.g. quick-close bits). Dunno how that works out for recycling, just burn out the plastic?
- JTbane 7y agoSoda can designs have to be under pressure to be strong.
- alanbernstein 7y agoThanks, that does answer my second question, and implicitly my first - other containers would need to be thicker and more expensive. What I mean to ask is, why don't we incentivize manufacturers to use more expensive aluminum packaging? It seems reasonable that the cost of manufacturing aluminum may be less than the sum of all costs of using plastic. It also seems that no companies will choose to do this without incentives.