Got a new client selling Honey – and looking to to source the packaging. Would really like the something recyclable, but everyone else seems to be sticking to glass jars. I am not sure if glass is even better than a good plastic?

Depends on a flew factors.  is the glass option already recycled glass?

hopefully – but struggling to find anything.

In the UK honey always seems to come in glass jars. In NZ it comes in plastic tubs like this:

interesting – but doubt the client would be happy with not being able to see the colour of the honey.

OP here’s a good overview on the pluses and minuses of glass and recycling (there’s a page on plastics too, linked on the RH menu):

https://www.recyclenow.com/recycling-knowledge/how-is-it-recycled/glass

I didn’t know that recycled glass was called ‘cullet, for instance, or that a glass furnace takes the equivalent of 250kg of wood to melt 1 tonne of glass.  And that Switzerland recycles 90% while the UK 50%

great link, thanks. Sounds like glass is a pretty good option. I wonder how we can make it easier to recycle? – no sticker to remove? or would printing directly on to the jar mean it can’t be recycled ?

Labels or printing in irrelevant to recycling. How about a deposit scheme to reuse rather than recycle ?

If you do a life cycle analysis the plastic tub is a very good option, should be cheaper to transport full and empty, present less risk and removes glass issues from the filling process, Clear top to see the colour of the honey?

Plenty of French beekeepers sell honey in non see through plastic pots. I think I may have bought a small amount in a waxed card container, sort of like a paper cup with a plastic lid. I may have mis-remembered though. Do they have different food safety regs in France?

Clear glass goes in the glass recycling skip along, as someone mentioned, with any labels.  Something like half of the amount of UK plastic vs glass gets recycled.  Additionally, glass in a landfill or river isn’t a potential chemical pollutant or hazard to water-life.

Plastic, though, is assumedly more cost-effective* at packaging stage, and more ‘convenient’ in many cases?  That’s why we’re drowning in it.  I don’t know what the future is for HDPE but it’ll still be around long after we’ve finished with it as once manufactured it’s basically indestructible.

*An upside of glass (above and beyond recyclability) food containers is a shelf-presence/appeal that is hard to match.

But you can get plastic that is recycled and 100% recyclable with less weight which means less co2 footprint… but this is a hard sell with the current stigma attached to all plastics.

My point about printing onto the glass is would this not make it harder for them to recycle as it would no longer be clear?

In my area (Brighton) a plastic pot like that would have to go in the bin whether it was recyable or not as they only recycle plastic bottles and no other containers. Glass would be recycled also I reuse a lot of glass jars for making jams and ferments.

As above, some councils have been shockingly poor at improving their processing centres over time. Despite its densely populated city, Southampton has numerous recyclable items that we have to put in general waste wheelie bin to avoid fines, including plastic trays and pots.

post-consumer recycled plastic cannot be used in food contact.