What I was referring to was the BPA lining traditionally found in cans: https://www.beeradvocate.com/articles/15869/bisphenol-pale-ale-should-you-be-worried-about-the-bpa-in-your-beer-can/
Looking it up now, it looks like there are multiple alternative linings which are being phased in and/or proposed, but every can still has some sort of lining, whether an epoxy or other similar material to protect the contents of the can from the aluminum or vice versa.
EDIT: whether or not this lining outweighs the additional transport and processing costs of glass (remelting/shaping glass is much more energy intensive than aluminum reporcessing as I understand it) was the question I was proposing and one I don't have an answer for.
clif@lemmy.world 1 year ago
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminum_can
Guess it depends on your definition of “plastic” and if someone would colloquially refer to an epoxy lining as plastic. Not here to debate word meanings but there is definitely a liner inside aluminum cans.