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Packing Choices: Glass vs. Plastic Containers Essay

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One of the many uses of glass is to make containers such as bottles and jars for storing food and drinks. It has several advantages, and until recently, it was considered the best packaging material for almost any product. The most important advantage is that glass containers do not release any chemicals or smells that can spoil the food and drinks that are put in them. The contents remain safe to consume as long as they have not expired. Also, for the same reason, glass does not pollute soil and underground water when thrown in landfills. Another advantage is that although glass can be moulded into any shape by using heat, it can withstand high temperatures, and so food products such as jam can be safely pasteurized in glass jars. In …show more content…

However, there are a number of disadvantages that a company has to consider before choosing glass containers for packaging. Firstly, glass containers are very expensive to make. They are so expensive that even reusing some of them does not help much to reduce the costs. Secondly, although glass does not pollute the environment, too much glass can be a problem if it is not recycled or reused. Glass takes up a lot of space in landfills because it does not decompose and become part of the soil. Lastly, transporting glass is expensive and risky. The reason for this is that it is heavy and costs more money to transport. It also smashes easily when dropped or when it hits a hard object. Because of the high costs of making and transporting glass containers, nowadays more and more companies are beginning to reconsider their use of glass for packaging and have started to look for other less expensive options. Plastic Nowadays, plastic is becoming a popular packaging material for food and drinks. However, companies have to consider the advantages and disadvantages of the material that they want to choose before they can decide which material to use. With regard to the use of plastic as a packaging material for food and drinks, the advantages are many. First, companies save money by using plastic containers such as bottles and jars because the containers do not cost a lot of money to make, and as

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