Cannette en aluminium versus bouteille en verre… quelle option de contenant est la plus environnementale ?

Le site Treehugger propose de répondre à cette question existentielle pour les amateurs de bière qui aurait une sensibilité environnementale aigue…faut-il privilégier la bière en cannette ou en bouteille ?

Quelques éléments de réponses font pencher la balance de la conscience écologique du côté de la cannette en aluminium.

Is Aluminum Better Than Glass?

Pound for pound aluminum is much more energy intensive to mine, refine, process, transport, and shape into beer cans than glass is, so how can it be more sustainable? There are two reasons for this; weight and recycling. Aluminum cans use a lot less material than glass bottles to contain the same about of product (15 grams vs. 170 grams)(...)Recycling rates for aluminum are much higher than for glass and in many locations glass "recycling" is a myth anyway. Glass is essentially made from sand and it is often cheaper for a bottle factory to make bottles from virgin material that paying to have the recycled bottles trucked all the way back to the plant. Even if the bottles are recycled, the energy required to melt the glass is virtually the same as for virgin material. When it is recycled aluminum has a much lower impact than virgin aluminum because it eliminates the mining, refining, and processing stages of the material lifecycle.

The Impact Of Transportation On The Beer Footprint

Glass beer bottles weigh over eleven times more than aluminum beer cans. This extra weight adds to the transportation emissions of the incoming empties and the outgoing product (...)

What Else Is Better About Beer Cans?

(...) While aluminum cans can't protect beer from heat a can provides superior protection from oxygen and light when compared to bottles. Why does preventing spoilage and loss make cans more sustainable? Because it allows a higher percentage of product to reach the consumer and eliminates waste.