>>11715726>>11716059>>11715861The chemical bonds in food plastics are very inert, and so they are great for long-term storage of products which are acidic like soda is. If we used biodegradable plastics, it would decrease the shelf life from years to possibly months, and the manufacture of these new plastics is typically much more expensive.
Personally, I agree that plastics are some of the worst waste products out there. I just understand the engineering intentions behind them. They fit a particular niche very well, and so it would be quite hard to persuade the change.
It might be a worthy effort to tax plastics for the sake of their reclamation from the environment, for example. I know that we are paying a high price for their misuse right now.
I am surprised however that large aluminum cans aren't used in place of plastic for soda and acidic fluids. It must be the relative cost at that scale.
>>11723230It is a polyester, which means it degrades in water which is acidic or basic, because either one of those hydrolyses the ester functional group.
