remember adds from the egg council that talked about eggs being the "perfect package" and the "complete source of protein that everything else is measured against"?

Yes, this type of egg carton does use more materials, but it is immensely useful if you have an egg business and wish to wash the cartons so that germs don't continue as you reuse the container to resell to other people. Several people I know offer a 50 cent discount on a dozen eggs if you return them (clean) plastic egg cartons. So although, in the larger sense, these cartons are more wasteful, they do have some benefits.

We get many of our eggs from a local woman that raises her own chickens that, like the poster above, appreciates these reusable cartons.

as they are most commonly found packaging organic eggs, we buy this sort of carton whenever we do purchase from the store and then pass them along to the local egg farmer when we're finished.

These plastic egg containers can be reused. They make great little greenhouses for seedlings. I remove that extra inner flap and paper though.

I second the reuse of these great little containers for seedlings. But, once I have collected enough of these, I much prefer the paperboard cartons, which can be recycled.

correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't the paperboard cartons reusable too?
I realize the cartons aren't washable, but I was under the impression that eggshells protected the contents.

I have been using these eggs for hte past 2 years or so, it never even crossed my mind how potentially wasteful they really are:(
though they are recycleable, maybe not in the normal sence of the word but they can be simply sent back to the company and used again minus all the melting down and everything they simply wash them and then put more eggs in which may actually result in less waste then the recycleing process for normal paper/styrofoam packaging

As the tender of a small chicken flock, I've found that the clear plastic peet containers are by far the most economical and recyclable and they also fit all size eggs from small to extra jumbo in the same container. For the small farmer, egg containers are very expensive. With shipping, in quantities that a small farmer can deal with, they can sometimes add $.50 to the price of the eggs. And everybody knows that few Americans are used to paying much more than that for a dozen!

Also, in my state (New York) the rules for selling eggs to the public are that they must be sold in NEW containers unless the purchaser brings her/his own egg carton and selects the eggs from a NEW 30 egg dispensor tray.

Many of my customers want to contribute their old paperboard egg cartons to my self serve business for others to use if need be. Unfortunately I have to discard/recycle most of them because even one teeny stain or fleck makes them potentially a health threat to others. When I get the plastic cartons back I can easily clean them to kill any pathogens which I cannot do for the cardboard ones. Also cardboard containers rarely fit my extra large eggs and never fit my jumbos. And my customers do not need any printing on the container. They know where their eggs come from.

Peet plastic containers are made from recyclable plastic and paper products. Not all of them have three sections. Mine look like regular carboard ones. I have reused some of them over 20 times and they are still good. And if we don't buy products from recycled plastic then what do you think will happen to most of it?

Clear recycled plastic containers have been an excellent solution for me. They make my rainbow blend eggs look great. They've saved me money because my customers can use them over and over again. --- Also they do make great seed starters, bead sorters and you name it.

my friend is like the biggest treehugger......she is like a bigger one than ME and I am like A reallly BIG TREEHUGGER!!!!!!!!!!
yea well keep the earth clean!!!!!
lol
peace

Plastic packaging shouldn't be reused for biosecurity reasons. Eggs have porous shells which absorb bacteria from packaging. The bacteria that builds up in the packaging over time, needs to be properly fumigated if it needs to be reused. The fumigation chemicals exceeds the benefits and cost savings of reuse.

The cost of plastic and paper packaging is very similar. If you are playing such high prices, I suggest going to www.mypak.hk and ask for a competitive quote.

Not just plastic egg packaging, but I believe all plastic packaging should be carefully considered. Plastic packaging contribute 60% of worldwide landfill. Even at its best, only 32% of material in plastic containers is recycled, compared to 75% (the highest of all materials) in paper packaging.

Source: "Towards Sustainable Packaging"

For more information on reality of plastic packaging, see:

http://www.plantic.com.au/community-environment/an-international-perspective/