4 ms·
I guess I exaggerated. Plastic wrap: $1.97/200sf = $0.00985 Foil: $3.78/75sf = $0.05040 Looks like it's a bit over 5 times as much. However used foil can't
by ars 2y ago
I guess I exaggerated.
Plastic wrap: $1.97/200sf = $0.00985
Foil: $3.78/75sf = $0.05040
Looks like it's a bit over 5 times as much.
However used foil can't be recycled, while used plastic wrap can be burned for energy. But that depends on the disposal options you have available locally.
- kragen 2y agoyou can burn used foil for energy, possibly more easily than you can burn used plastic wrap—high-quality plastic wrap is polyvinylidene chloride, and burning it produces hydrochloric acid, which is a hazardous waste product you have to properly scrub from your exhaust. possibly you have to deal with inferior polyethylene plastic wrap, which is much worse at blocking oxygen, but is easy to burn safely you can recycle used foil, it's just generally not high enough value to be worthwhile. organic contaminants burn off in the crucible aluminum-air batteries are one of the most intuitively appealing ways to burn used foil for energy, but they are not yet in wide use it's possible there are externalities not adequately captured by the retail price, such as toxic emissions from the manufacturing processes, or occupational illnesses. but it seems unlikely that those are hundreds of times the retail price
- AlexandrB 2y agoUse foil can be trivially recycled - it's metal: https://www.calgary.ca/waste/what-goes-where/metal-aluminum-foil-plates-and-containers.html https://www.calgary.ca/waste/what-goes-where/metal-aluminum-...
- kragen 2y agomost recyclers don't want it because most of its weight is rotting food; the aluminum is ten times thinner than a sheet of paper, a human hair, or (most relevantly here) a beer can but yes, there's no technical difficulty in recycling it; it isn't like greasy paper where the grease messes up the recycling process