Yes, and the introduction of deposit-return for non-reuse bottles "killed" the reusable bottles. See [1] on page 8 (only in German), "Einweg-Kunststoff" (non-reusable plastic) won the game. With "Mehrweg-Glas" (reusable glass) loosing the most.

Not sure if reusable glass was so much more environmentally friendly (think transporting heavy empty glass bottles through the countryside by trucks), but environmental effects through transportation might be easier to mitigate long-term than plastic pollution.

Side node: While plastic won the race for water and soda/juices, Germans still prefer their beer to be served in glass.

[1] https://diw-econ.de/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/DIW_Econ_BGVZ...

I'm not sure either - and there's one of the problems. We're not given the full cost and consequence of each alternative.

I did read a piece a few months back discussing glass against recycled plastic. Plastic apparently needs far more washing, and at higher temperature and pressure, before it can be recycled. The washing to remove glue, labels and dried food which are all more difficult to get off plastic, and also because plastic recycling is so easy to pollute and ruin the whole batch.