What is worse plastic or aluminum?
When looking from the environmental impact lens, plastic is much more hazardous than aluminium. Aluminium is infinitely recyclable (meaning it does not lose it's quality when recycled unlike plastic) and recycling aluminium saves more than 90% of the energy needed to make new aluminium.
Aluminum is much better than plastic in so many ways, starting with its recyclability. And, it just keeps getting better. Aluminum is a recycling hero–easy to recycle and infinitely recyclable. In fact, nearly 75 percent of all the aluminum ever produced is still in use today.
Aluminum is considered one of the safest materials. As a matter of fact, you may have seen that even food products are packaged in aluminum foils.
Recycling plastic is more complex, leads to degradation and has lower reuse rates than aluminum - so the metal has been heralded as a greener alternative. Cans have on average 68% recycled content compared to just 3% for plastic in the United States, Environmental Protection Agency data shows.
Glass and aluminium don't break up into harmful microparticles like plastic does. Plastic recycling requires less energy due to the lower temperatures involved in melting the raw material. But plastic, unlike glass or aluminium, cannot be endlessly recycled.
Aluminium also has the advantage of being infinitely recyclable. Aluminium packaging can be recycled time and time again without losing quality, while plastic packaging degrades with time and use, eventually reaching a condition where there is no option but to send it to landfill or incinerator.
Many companies switching to aluminum packaging cite its recyclability as the main reason for the change. They are banking on the material's high recycling rate to reduce the impact of their packaging.
Both aluminum and plastic are malleable. The main difference between the two is their rigidity. Plastic can be molded into complex shapes easily, as the material has a lower melting point than aluminum. Since aluminum is more durable overall, it is a better choice if you want a product that will last for a long time.
Exposure to aluminum is usually not harmful, but exposure to high levels can affect your health. Workers who breathe large amounts of aluminum dusts can have lung problems, such as coughing or abnormal chest X-rays.
Human exposure to aluminium is inevitable and, perhaps, inestimable. Aluminium's free metal cation, Alaq(3+), is highly biologically reactive and biologically available aluminium is non-essential and essentially toxic.
Why is aluminum toxic to humans?
Toxic effects of Al arise mainly from its pro-oxidant activity which results in oxidative stress, free radical attack and oxidation of cellular proteins and lipids (Exley, 2013).
Toxic Chemicals in Plastic
These include endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), which are linked to infertility, obesity, diabetes, prostate or breast cancer, among others. Other health conditions linked to additives include reproductive, growth, and cognitive impairment and neurodevelopment disorders.
More heat-resistant – metals tend to have a higher melting point than plastics. Operating temperature – metal can be used in extreme hot and cold temperatures. Metal has a higher tensile strength than plastic. Stainless steel is durable and easy to clean.
The harmful chemicals released from plastic products throughout their entire life cycle can pose a serious risk to humans and the environment, including when waste is not properly managed, finding its way to air, water and soils.
Aluminum Water Bottles Are Safe
The CDC states that aluminum is not harmful, making it a good alternative to even BPA-free plastic water bottles, and especially so against plastic water bottles that have BPA. Along with being a generally safe material, aluminum is hygienic.
A lightweight, transparent plastic material with the mechanical strength of aluminum could be an ideal replacement for traditional and polymeric glass in many applications.
While aluminium doesn't rust, it does corrode. The aluminium oxide coating is highly resistant and renews itself if damaged keeping the metal relatively safe from corrosion. But some factors can cause the coat to become unstable, thus exposing the metal.
Exposure to aluminum is usually not harmful, but exposure to high levels can affect your health. Workers who breathe large amounts of aluminum dusts can have lung problems, such as coughing or abnormal chest X-rays.
But when it comes to wrapping your sandwiches, aluminium foil – even though it's recyclable – is worse than cling film. Aluminium mining is energy-intensive and polluting: per square metre, aluminium foil contributes three times as much water pollution and six times as many greenhouse gas emissions.
Both aluminum and plastic are malleable. The main difference between the two is their rigidity. Plastic can be molded into complex shapes easily, as the material has a lower melting point than aluminum. Since aluminum is more durable overall, it is a better choice if you want a product that will last for a long time.
Are Aluminium cans better than plastic bottles?
Recycling of bottled beverage materials incl glass, plastic
How many times? If aluminium cans are made of 100% recycled material the carbon footprint will be 96% less and thus similar to refilled glass bottles or carton. However, as only 45% of cans are recovered (in the US) the real carbon footprint is much higher.