Starbucks ban will eliminate a billion plastic straws a year

STARBUCKS has joined the number of businesses pledging to cut back on plastic by announcing it will phase out plastic straws by 2020.

The coffee chain announced yesterday that it would eliminate plastic drinking straws and introduce lids designed not to need straws within two years, to combat the stress they put on marine life and the environment.

Videos showing straws littering beaches, choking marine life, and even floating through the Arctic Ocean have turned them into a focal point of the campaign against plastic.

It’s estimated that nine million tons of plastic is dumped into the sea each year, of which straws make up 4 per cent.

The chain – the largest company to make the commitment so far – has said it will replace its current straws with eco-friendly alternatives.

Starbucks estimates that the switch will eliminate more than 1 billion plastic straws a year.

Responding to one concerned Twitter user, wondering whether customers would have to drink any cold drink “straight”, a Starbucks spokesman said that straws made of paper or compostable plastic would be available instead of the standard plastic ones used now.

The global movement has seen similar franchises committing to cutting down on plastic straw usage.

Costa has said it will only provide them on request by the end of this year, while Pizza Express in January said it would replace plastic straws in all of its restaurants by summer.

Mcdonald’s shareholders voted down a proposal requesting a report on plastic straws in May, but the fast food chain recently said it would switch to paper straws in the UK and Ireland by next year, and test alternatives to plastic straws in some US locations.