Walking down the aisles of a grocery store, most food products are in plastic packaging: peanut butter jars, condiment bottles, plastic bottles of soda, plastic bags to hold food, even plastic containers to hold produce. But just over 20 years ago, grocery stores looked completely different. Glass containers were seen holding sodas, juices, baby food, jams, nuts, butters, and plenty more. There was more monetary motivation to recycle these glass containers back then. Once glass items were returned, customers would be paid, store owners would wash the containers, and then they would be refilled to be sold on the shelves once again. This saved the store from having to buy all new containers.

Protecting Products and the Planet

Glass as a packaging material is, in many ways, a sensible choice. Glass is 100% recyclable, and, because it maintains its quality, it can be recycled indefinitely. Roughly 27 million tons of glass are recycled each year. Additionally, glass is an inert material, meaning that anything put inside the container doesn’t interact with the glass. This feature makes it ideal for food and beverage containers, so that it will maintain the delicious taste and not leach harmful chemicals into the food. Because plastic containers can release harmful chemicals into consumable items, some people prefer glass to store food.

In contrast, plastics that can be recycled can only be recycled so many times before they become no longer usable, and some plastics can’t be recycled at all. Plastic bottles and other containers are porous, so over time, it is possible for the containers to change the flavor of food or beverage items. And, if exposed to high temperatures, even food-safe plastics like PET are able to release antimony into the container’s contents. Choosing glass may seem like the sustainable winner here when making packaging material choices; nevertheless, there are downsides to using glass containers. 

The Shift to Plastic 

The weight of glass is seven times the weight of plastic when compared at the same volume. This makes the production of glass much more resource-intensive than plastic, despite being manufactured from a more renewable resource than plastic. Additionally, this makes it more difficult and costly to transport, while also being fossil fuel-intensive to move to its final location. 

When comparing the fragility of glass and plastic, glass is more prone to shattering, and it can be dangerous when broken in transport or on-site. Whereas plastic containers and pouches are much less likely to be broken or damaged because of their flexibility. Because glass is so brittle and inert, it requires that glass packaging have a separate lid to seal it. Plastic does not face this problem because it can be thermo-sealed, meaning it does not need to have a lid to seal any of the contents inside. With plastic, you can also create sturdy containers or plastic pouches, giving you more of a variety of choices when storing items. 

Choosing Optimal Packaging

There is no right or wrong choice when it comes to whether to pick glass or plastic containers. Plastics can vary more in flexibility, shapes, and sizes, with a lower risk of breaking, but their end-of-life options are limited. Whereas glass can be recycled over and over again and doesn’t release any chemicals into food or beverages stored, but it is also very fragile and uses much more fossil fuels in production and transportation. 

So which one is right for you? Setting sustainability goals is the only way for this question to be answered. Analyzing the tradeoffs, costs, and cycles and seeing what fits your company’s priorities is the best way to pick between glass and plastic packaging. 

Trayak’s EcoImpact-COMPASS software can help you make this decision by providing comparable data for the attributes you care about. If your company is looking to make informed packaging decisions and reduce environmental impact, then EcoImpact-COMPASS can streamline this process for you. Contact us today!