# Plastic bottles VS aluminum cans. Which is cheaper?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-bottles-vs-aluminum-cans-which-is-cheaper/657053
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [April 29, 2013, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-bottles-vs-aluminum-cans-which-is-cheaper/657053 "2013-04-29T22:53:12Z")
**Posts on this page:** 10
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2013, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-bottles-vs-aluminum-cans-which-is-cheaper/657053/1 "2013-04-29T22:53:12Z")
I prefer the 12 ounce plastic bottles for soda over aluminum cans
Which is less expensive for bottlers to use?
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### Author:  [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2013, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-bottles-vs-aluminum-cans-which-is-cheaper/657053/2 "2013-05-02T16:36:00Z")
Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?
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### Author:  [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2013, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-bottles-vs-aluminum-cans-which-is-cheaper/657053/3 "2013-05-02T17:21:11Z")
Not wanting to hijack, but a better question might be which has less of an impact on the environment, hence cheaper? Aluminum or plastic. I know where I live (Mexico) you never see an aluminum can in the street, plastic bottles, yes. And they recycle both here.
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### Author:  [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2013, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-bottles-vs-aluminum-cans-which-is-cheaper/657053/4 "2013-05-02T17:29:08Z")
Perhaps the questions should be:
[ul]
[li]What is the cost to bottlers using new aluminum cans vs plastic bottles?[/li][li]What is the cost to bottlers using recycled new aluminum cans vs plastic bottles?[/li][/ul]
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### Author:  [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2013, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-bottles-vs-aluminum-cans-which-is-cheaper/657053/5 "2013-05-02T18:58:53Z")
The Container Recycling Institute says “…The single-serve plastic bottle brings a profit of $5.34 for the bottler and $8.86 per case for the retailer. A bottler has to sell 26 cases of cans for every single case of 20-ounce plastic bottles to make the same dollar profit.”
That would seem to indicate that it is much cheaper to use plastic bottles.
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### Author:  [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2013, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-bottles-vs-aluminum-cans-which-is-cheaper/657053/6 "2013-05-02T19:14:37Z")
> [@puddleglum](#):
>
> The Container Recycling Institute says “…The single-serve plastic bottle brings a profit of $5.34 for the bottler and $8.86 per case for the retailer. A bottler has to sell 26 cases of cans for every single case of 20-ounce plastic bottles to make the same dollar profit.”
> That would seem to indicate that it is much cheaper to use plastic bottles.
Or it could mean that people are willing to pay more for drinks packaged in plastic bottles. In the United States, a typical can of a soft drink is 12 oz as compared to the 20 oz plastic bottles they are using for their statistics.
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### Author:  [@thicksantorum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thicksantorum)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2013, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-bottles-vs-aluminum-cans-which-is-cheaper/657053/7 "2013-05-03T07:34:29Z")
> [@harmonicamoon](#):
>
> Not wanting to hijack, but a better question might be which has less of an impact on the environment, hence cheaper? Aluminum or plastic. I know where I live (Mexico) you never see an aluminum can in the street, plastic bottles, yes. And they recycle both here.
Well, metals are cheaper to recycle than to refine from ore. They’re literally just melted and re-formed. No quality loss, no matter how many times you recycle them. Plastics… not so much.
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### Author:  [@Khendrask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khendrask)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2013, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-bottles-vs-aluminum-cans-which-is-cheaper/657053/8 "2013-05-03T09:48:22Z")
> [@thicksantorum](#):
>
> Well, metals are cheaper to recycle than to refine from ore. They’re literally just melted and re-formed. No quality loss, no matter how many times you recycle them. Plastics… not so much.
Even more problems on the plastic, is that plastic bottles are never recycled into new bottles. They are turned into other products, but every bottle is new as far as I know.
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### Author:  [@Mdcastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mdcastle)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2013, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-bottles-vs-aluminum-cans-which-is-cheaper/657053/9 "2013-05-03T12:53:51Z")
…
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### Author:  [@Baffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baffle)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2013, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-bottles-vs-aluminum-cans-which-is-cheaper/657053/10 "2013-05-03T16:37:00Z")
> [@Khendrask](#):
>
> Even more problems on the plastic, is that plastic bottles are never recycled into new bottles. They are turned into other products, but every bottle is new as far as I know.
At the bottling plant where I work, recycled PET is used in the bottles of some brands, at both 50% and 100% of the plastic content.