ALL PLASTIC STRAWS IN TWO YEARS
A week after its hometown banned plastic straws, utensils, the Seattle company says it will switch to biodegradable straws across all stores in the world by 2020. Here is a lowdown on some plastic facts:
2020 The year when the beverage giant will eliminate plastic straws
new york — Starbucks will eliminate plastic straws from all of its locations within two years, citing the environmental threat to oceans.
The coffee chain becomes the largest food and beverage company to do so as calls to cut waste globally grow louder. While plastic straws account for a small percentage of the waste that ends up in oceans, they’ve become a flashpoint.
A week after its hometown of Seattle banned plastic drinking straws and utensils, Starbucks said on Monday that by 2020, it will be using straws made from biodegradable materials like paper and specially designed lids. The company already offers alternative straws in Seattle.
Other cities, like Fort Myers Beach in Florida, have banned plastic straws. Similar proposals are being considered in places like New York and San Francisco. The push to ban plastic straws gained traction after a viral video in 2015 showed rescuers removing a plastic straw from a sea turtle’s nose in graphic detail.
The issue of waste more broadly is coming up in company boardrooms.
In February, Dunkin’ Donuts said it would eliminate polystyrene foam cups from its stores by 2020.
McDonald’s shareholders voted down a proposal requesting a report on plastic straws in May. But the burger chain recently said it would switch to paper straws in the United Kingdom and Ireland by next year, and test alternatives to plastic straws in some US locations.
McDonald’s also said this year that it would use only recycled or other environmentally friendly materials for its soda cups, Happy Meal boxes and other packaging by 2025.
One reason big chains say it will take time to change may be the difficulty in securing adequate supplies. Imperial Dade, a foodservice and janitorial supplies distributor based in New Jersey, says it’s seen a huge spike in demand for alternative straws in recent months.
“Our biggest challenge is trying to locate alternative sources so we can satisfy the demand,” said Laura Craven, the company’s director of marketing.
While plastic drinking straws have become one of the more highprofile environmental issues, they make up only about 4 percent of the plastic trash by number of pieces, and far less by weight. Straws add up to about 2,000 tons of the nearly 9 million tons of plastic waste that ends up in waters around the globe each year.
The advocacy group 5 Gyres notes that the top five biggest sources of single-use plastic are plastic bags, water bottles, to-go containers, to-go cups and straws. —