Every material we use affects the environment but what is our best environmental option…does one has worse impact on the environment than the other?
Though both can affect the health of people and the environment but there are still a few reasons why it might prove better to buy one instead of the other while picking them out at the store.
First consideration could be how they are made?
Both processes require a lot of natural resources. Plastic bottles are made of resins derived from petroleum which is a non-renewable resource that requires a lot of water too. Aluminum cans are made from bauxite; the mining of bauxite is highly damaging process to the environment.
Recycling – where they end-up?
Plastic bottles are down-cycled into fibers rather than re-made into bottles. But the recycling rate of plastics is actually quite low. The overall recycling rate for plastic bottles for the year 2017 was just 29.3%.
But the cans are more valuable for the recycling as they can be recycled back into cans repeatedly with no limit. According to Aluminum.org, nearly 75% of aluminum ever produced is still in use to this day. Nearly 72% of the aluminum cans were recycled in 2017.
And the Winner is?
Clearly, the cans having 100 percent recycled materials are the winner here because they can be repurposed over and over again without any limit.
