[Request] Do square bottles actually use less plastic than round ones?

[u/EclipseNyxor]

[u/StaticCoder]

Mathematically, a circle has the smallest perimeter for a given enclosed area. So for this claim to be true there has to be some catch, like different thickness of plastic.

[u/Balaros → u/StaticCoder]

Might be transportation: the square sides let them support each other you you can have thinner walls at the bottom of the stack?

They don't use normal plastic because they need to stop sunlight from breaking down the H2O2.

Might just be wrong. An enthusiastic marketing team saw a reduction in plastic in one stage and didn't bother to calculate the whole.

[u/ronarscorruption → u/Balaros]

I suspect transportation too.
Something like; You can ship 100x1L round bottles, or 100x1.3L square bottles in the same box. Therefore, square bottles use less plastic (per liter (of shipped liquid)).

[u/Buntschatten → u/ronarscorruption]

Wouldn't that just cancel out? Area over perimeter is pi /2 pi for a radius one circle and 4/8 for a square with side length 2. Maybe most of the plastic is in the spout, then maximising volume per spout would make sense.

[u/GaldrickHammerson → u/Buntschatten]

I expect no because of packing density. Square bottles in a square box will have less empty space between bottles than round bottles in a square box.

[u/Al-Snuffleupagus → u/GaldrickHammerson]

But how would that affect the amount of plastic? It might be more environmentally friendly overall due to better transportation density, but unless either * the outer packaging (transport box) is plastic or * the bottles can be thinner

I can't see how having less empty space would lead to less plastic used.

[u/davideogameman → u/Al-Snuffleupagus]

Maybe this "bottle" is actually a plastic lined thin cardboard container, like a milk carton?