Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Paper cups are just as toxic as plastic cups

gu.se

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 91 posts

Re: Paper cups are just as toxic as plastic cups

#51

Post by Balero »

Ekaros wrote: post #31
arp242 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That's why we stopped using it. Except we didn't; wine and spirits come almost exclusively in glass bottles, beer is frequently in glass (although cans are also used), almost every store will have some sodas and bottled water in glass, most people at home and restaurants use glasses made from, well, glass, etc.

I don't use drugs. But my understanding is that plastic bottles aren't exactly uncommon even for spirits. And then with wines you get the boxed stuff. A carboard box, with plastic/foil bag inside.

I do use drugs. I have never seen spirits in a plastic bottle, even own brand super market vodka.

Boxed wine exists, and is a bit under half the market (by volume). Wine in glasses is still the majority of sales. Beer/cider/larger is sold in cans or bottles, with cans being about 2/3rd by volume.

Re: Paper cups are just as toxic as plastic cups

#52

Post by veave »

throwbadubadu wrote: post #47
veave wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Neither glass nor plastic add or detract from the flavour of a beverage.

What? Definitely happens, latest when one of the cheaper thinner bottle types have been sitting a bit too long in the hot the plastic taste becomes intense. And even if below noticing levels I think plastic molecules have been detected in such beverages, but uncertain here.

Do I really need to specify "unless you have put the bottles in the sun, which the label tells you not to do"?

Re: Paper cups are just as toxic as plastic cups

#53

Post by sneak »

omnicognate wrote: post #28
veave wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Glass sucks. That's why we stopped using it. It's expensive, it's brittle, it's heavy, it takes up a lot of space.

Glass is awesome. It's reusable many times over and recyclable after that. We used to have systems to allow that reuse (bottle return) before somehow we ended up throwing away a plastic bottle (recycled at best) every time we buy a pint of milk. And contrary to sibling comment, glass containers don't leach heavy metals (or anything else) into food.

It's much heavier to cart around, which must be factored in. There's absolutely nothing inherently harmful in single use plastics if they get properly disposed of in landfill.

Driving heavy glass back and forth from the bottling plant burns a lot of diesel unnecessarily.

Re: Paper cups are just as toxic as plastic cups

#55

Post by prepend »

veave wrote: post #37
glimshe wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Glass is amazing. You haven't tasted a beverage until you had it in a glass cup or bottle.

Neither glass nor plastic add or detract from the flavour of a beverage.

They affect the mouthfeel and experience of the beverage and the brain conflates all those with flavor.

Re: Paper cups are just as toxic as plastic cups

#56

Post by NoZebra120vClip »

arp242 wrote: post #27
veave wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Glass sucks. That's why we stopped using it. It's expensive, it's brittle, it's heavy, it takes up a lot of space.

> That's why we stopped using it. Except we didn't; wine and spirits come almost exclusively in glass bottles, beer is frequently in glass (although cans are also used), almost every store will have some sodas and bottled water in glass, most people at home and restaurants use glasses made from, well, glass, etc.

It's easy to purchase Mexican sodas around here, and these are never in plastic. Also the more upscale or organic soda companies such as Jones or Reed's, always glass.

Re: Paper cups are just as toxic as plastic cups

#57

Post by checkyoursudo »

vladvasiliu wrote: post #24
morsch wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's glass . Has been around for 3000+ years.

The issue is that while you can drink out of glassware or ceramics (I enjoy those for my coffee and tea), basically everything is carted around in plastic. If you want to buy water when you're out and about and want it in a glass bottle, your only choices are the "premium" brands that cost an arm and a leg. And, more generally, it's pretty darn hard to avoid plastics when buying food. When I was a kid, when my parent…

Even if you avoid plastic in the final retail product, there is a pretty good chance the raw materials were transported from the source or within processing facilities in plastic or plastic-lined containers.

Re: Paper cups are just as toxic as plastic cups

#58

Post by gumby »

Edible waxes or shellacs have been used for a long time, but PLA is easier to get and work with given the fossil infrastructure that already exists (path dependence).

That being said, PLA is pretty benign. Back when I was in pharma we used it in a variety of formulations and never saw anything in animal histopath (as expected — that’s why we used it). It’s a pretty common excipient. This result is interesting, perhaps minor perhaps not.

And let’s not forget that the discarded cups themselves clog waterways and interact otherwise with the local ecosystem (as housing for some animals, pests or not), change the local pH of standing water etc…

Re: Paper cups are just as toxic as plastic cups

#59

Post by MayeulC »

NoZebra120vClip wrote: post #6

Oh, yeah, that's no secret. Anything that touches food is lined to within an inch of its life with plastic. There's no escaping that. Every soda can you drink, most of your reusable water bottles, all that supposedly eco-friendly packaging is loaded with plastic. And they can BPA-free you all they want, but they just keep shifting to newer, less tested substances that don't have a bad reputation yet.

I guess they could coat them in something else, like beeswax.

Re: Paper cups are just as toxic as plastic cups

#60

Post by arp242 »

theelous3 wrote: post #23
asimpletune wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Taken literally, you're right, but in effect their point remains that paper (food containers) nonetheless can be toxic. I think the main point is this is a serious issue but there's still time to phase this stuff out of our lives without it causing a massive inconvenience. They mentioned at the bottom of the article there's an effort in the UN to organize an agreement to ban plastics, and the authors called for trans…

That wasn't really their point. Their point was that paper containers are toxic, but it's a lie by omission to call them just paper containers. If they had just written a good faith article pointing out that paper containers typically also contain PLA and this is known to be toxic in the environment, all would be well. "PLA lined paper containers are toxic in the environment" would be a fair title. This might seem pe…

Cups that are 100% paper don't exist, because you can't hold the liquids people drink in paper. Everyone calls "paper cups lined with some material" just "paper cups".
Post reply on HN