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A century ago when glass bottle reuse was still common in the west, glass bottles were cleaned automatically by machines. A bottle cleaning plant should be abl

A century ago when glass bottle reuse was still common in the west, glass bottles were cleaned automatically by machines. A bottle cleaning plant should be able to achieve very high throughput with relatively few workers, paying them properly shouldn't be a problem.

morsch 4y ago
Reusable glass bottles still make up 75+% of beer sold in Germany. No slave labor is involved.
- Blahah 4y ago
  And the homeless population of Berlin is able to afford basics by helping sort the recycling - it's a very nice regenerative system compared to most places.
  - omnimus 4y ago
    This is true with other european countries too but in Berlin it’s works especially well. You leave the bottles around trashbins and somebody picks them up in no time. This works though because there are Spätis (corner stores) on every corner and everybody walks around and you can drink alcohol in public. It would make no sense in cultures where you have to drive a car and cant drink outside.
systemvoltage 4y ago
A century ago we did a lot of things, the most important aspect is the ROI and tradeoff. If you're creating more emissions from cleaning than producing a new bottle, you've got a net impact but you'll get to do a lot of virtue signaling to make sure it is justified.
- bombcar 4y ago
  Even if it's true that cleaning is creating more emissions today it can still be worthwhile to get people used to it, because it can be easier to replace a coal-fired plant with solar or wind than it is to change the daily habits of millions of people.
dmitriid 4y ago
The question then becomes: how much water do you need for that? How are you going to dispose of chemicals used in cleaning?
- MichaelCollins 4y ago
  AFAIK the cleaning is done with steam. As for water needed, the water isn't consumed when you use it, it just gets a bit dirtier. Just put it back in the river you got it from when you're done rinsing out bottles.
  - dmitriid 4y ago
    > Just put it back in the river you got it from when you're done rinsing out bottles. Ah yes. Just put potentially contaminated water back into water supply.

morsch 4y ago

Reusable glass bottles still make up 75+% of beer sold in Germany. No slave labor is involved.

Blahah 4y ago
And the homeless population of Berlin is able to afford basics by helping sort the recycling - it's a very nice regenerative system compared to most places.
- omnimus 4y ago
  This is true with other european countries too but in Berlin it’s works especially well. You leave the bottles around trashbins and somebody picks them up in no time. This works though because there are Spätis (corner stores) on every corner and everybody walks around and you can drink alcohol in public. It would make no sense in cultures where you have to drive a car and cant drink outside.

systemvoltage 4y ago

A century ago we did a lot of things, the most important aspect is the ROI and tradeoff. If you're creating more emissions from cleaning than producing a new bottle, you've got a net impact but you'll get to do a lot of virtue signaling to make sure it is justified.

bombcar 4y ago
Even if it's true that cleaning is creating more emissions today it can still be worthwhile to get people used to it, because it can be easier to replace a coal-fired plant with solar or wind than it is to change the daily habits of millions of people.

dmitriid 4y ago

The question then becomes: how much water do you need for that? How are you going to dispose of chemicals used in cleaning?

MichaelCollins 4y ago
AFAIK the cleaning is done with steam. As for water needed, the water isn't consumed when you use it, it just gets a bit dirtier. Just put it back in the river you got it from when you're done rinsing out bottles.
- dmitriid 4y ago
  > Just put it back in the river you got it from when you're done rinsing out bottles. Ah yes. Just put potentially contaminated water back into water supply.