I keep wondering about how doable it would be to revert back to reusable containers for soft drinks, except using some sort of common infrastructure and standardized bottle instead of the each company maintaining its own system. The current system of single use contains is never going to measure up to washing and refilling a glass container.
At least for milk this was AFAIK analyzed and found to be wrong, i.e. the transport and washing of glass bottles has a higher impact on the environment then single use tetra-packs or those thin-walled plastic bags that are less commonly used.
Of course these cardboard containers are not suitable for carbonated beverages and I suspect the calculation is somewhat different for the stronger type of plastic or metal containers necessary for that.
However I personally see little wrong with on the spot mixing and carbonating dispensers like used by the fast-food chains for delivering these type of drinks as you only need to ship the concentrate.
I keep wondering about how doable it would be to revert back to reusable containers for soft drinks, except using some sort of common infrastructure and standardized bottle instead of the each company maintaining its own system. The current system of single use contains is never going to measure up to washing and refilling a glass container.
It seems to be quite hard to know what to do for the best. I did read somewhere that a glass milk bottle had an average of a 14 delivery life span.
At least for milk this was AFAIK analyzed and found to be wrong, i.e. the transport and washing of glass bottles has a higher impact on the environment then single use tetra-packs or those thin-walled plastic bags that are less commonly used.
Of course these cardboard containers are not suitable for carbonated beverages and I suspect the calculation is somewhat different for the stronger type of plastic or metal containers necessary for that.
However I personally see little wrong with on the spot mixing and carbonating dispensers like used by the fast-food chains for delivering these type of drinks as you only need to ship the concentrate.