2006-10-13 00:11:39 · 22 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Mythology & Folklore
I miss them, I thought they were a smashing invention
2006-10-13 01:33:14 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are several reasons. Glass breaks and can be dangerous (and in the US people sue for everything!). Glass weighs tons more than plastic meaning more energy must be used to transport it from the manufacturer and the milk company (and home) and back to the milk company for re-use. Re-use of glass requires inspection, cleaning, and sanitizing... all of which cost money and energy. So reusable glass isn't as green as it seems. Plastic is much much safer. It won't break and cut customers or workers, there are no glass fragments in the milk plant, so they can't get into bottles and hurt people. Also, opaque plastic protects the milk better from photo oxidation which gives milk an odd, off taste and destroys vitamin content. Will we go back? Not likely. The only reason I could see would be if the cost of oil (used to make the plastic bottles) skyrockets so much that the cost of re-use is less. Even then, there would be the safety factor. Me, I stick with opaque jugs or dark colored gable top cartons for the best tasting milk.
2016-05-21 22:31:28 · answer #2 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Economics. Home milk delivery is nearly extinct in the US. And asking people to return used milk bottles to stores, while ecologically sound, is expensive.
Few people buy milk by the quart any more, and anything larger than a quart bottle is too heavy for many people to handle. A gallon milk bottle would weigh quite a bit more than the standard plastic container and require a bodybuilder to heft.
2006-10-13 00:18:39 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
They were replaced by easy-to-produce plastic or wax board containers (tetrapacks). Glass bottles were expensive to produce, had limited life (they broke easily), required sterilising when returned, were too heavy in proportion to the milk they contained (hence transport and distribution costs were high), required specially designed storage units (crates), and they were the source of great noise when the milkman delivered at 5 AM!!
2006-10-13 00:17:53 · answer #4 · answered by avian 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I get Glass milk bottles delivered every day!
2006-10-13 00:20:13 · answer #5 · answered by Welshchick 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have two in my fridge - left this morning by the milk man. along with 4 4 pint plastic bottles of the stuff. I enjoy the nostalgia of washing them out after the weekend and putting them on the doorstep to be collected!! Sad, I know.
2006-10-13 00:14:22 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Most milk delivery companies in the UK use glass bottles, but not many people have it delivered any more....
2006-10-13 00:20:51 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
They are right next to glass soda bottles - in our memories
2006-10-13 00:19:07 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Still have them, I have a doorstep milkman who delivers in glass -bottles- it's 53p a pint though!
2006-10-13 00:17:14 · answer #9 · answered by annie 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Some small stores still carry them. As for the others, I guess they went the way of the horses that used to bring them to your house
2006-10-13 00:42:16 · answer #10 · answered by Mary Smith 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They became bottles for Starbucks Frappuccino something.
2006-10-13 00:19:45 · answer #11 · answered by crage_ralius 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋