Why It’s the Last (Plastic Drinking) Straw
Alternatives to single-use plastic

Single-use plastic straws really do suck. These plastic drinking straws end up in the world’s oceans causing havoc to marine wildlife, the biodiversity of our seas and human health through the food chain. To show the scale of the problem, it is estimated that 8.5 billion straws are thrown away in the UK each year. (The Independent)

What makes it worse is that plastic straws are unnecessary. That’s not to say your customers can’t still enjoy slurping your ice-cool drinks this summer with a straw, and of course some people need straws for health reasons, but there are alternatives, such as paper straws, which are compostable and return to the earth rather than drift into the ocean.

In April, to combat the effects of throwaway plastics on our rivers and oceans, the UK Government announced a consultation on the ban of single-use plastic drinking straws as well as cotton buds and plastic coffee stirrers in England. (BBC) Ahead of the legislative change, many food and drink providers are already making the switch to other disposable drinking straws alternatives.

Why do we need to reduce plastic?

Plastic straws are not the biggest polluters of the seas, but if we reduce their usage, there will be a huge impact on marine life. Firstly, even the manufacturing of plastic straws contributes to climate change as they are produced from fossil fuels. Straws are rarely recycled either because they are so small and can be made from different plastics, so they end up in landfill, as litter, or slip into the sea. Once in the oceans, wildlife often mistake them for food or they entangle and injure sealife. (A heartbreaking video of a turtle having a plastic straw removed from its nostril went viral in 2015 acting as a catalyst, perhaps, for changing public perceptions of plastic).

As with all the plastic junk that ends up in the sea from plastic drinking bottles to bags, these disposable straws do not decompose, and instead break down into microplastics which pollute the oceans and harm its inhabitants. These have been found in a diverse range of wildlife from zooplankton to whales and are thought to have a detrimental effect on the reproductive health of sea creatures. For instance, BPA (Bisphenol A) can be used as a hardening agent in plastic straws, and the chemicals it produces can cause confusion in some freshwater fish when it comes to identifying their own species resulting in interspecies breeding. (Science Illustrated)

These microplastics could also move from sea to dinner plate (and put us all off our supper) as we consume fish and seafood that have ingested these pollutants. (Independent) There is currently no way to turn the tide on microplastics and remove them from the sea, and therefore reducing new ocean plastics is all the more pressing.  

Plastics are turning up all over the world from UK beaches to remote islands, from the Arctic ice to even the deepest point in all the world’s oceans, the Mariana Trench. There is also the grimly-named “Great Pacific Garbage Patch”, which is a vortex of marine microplastic debris based on ocean currents which pull non-biodegradable plastic trash into the swirling “landfill” of the sea. In the Pacific, Henderson Island, part of the Pitcairn group, seems a fitting example of the damage that humans are doing. This remote, uninhabited coral atoll is one of the most polluted with 18 tonnes of plastic waste found on its once idyllic shores. (The Guardian)

So what is the predicted impact of plastic waste if we do not act? The stats are alarming:

• By 2025, the ocean could contain one tonne of plastic for every three tonnes of finfish. (A report by the Ocean Conservancy in partnership with the McKinsey Center for Business and Environment).
• By 2050, there will be more plastic in the sea than fish. (Ellen MacArthur Foundation)

Breaking up with plastic

As a leading supplier of alternatives to oil-based plastic packaging, we’re pleased to see this new government consultation, and that the consumer opinion is switching away from plastics. “The Blue Planet 2 effect” has brought the issue to life as the TV series captured emotional images, such as a dead newborn whale poisoned by plastic pollution or a turtle tangled in a plastic sack. This government consultation on single-use plastics comes off the back of several other interventions to help break up the UK’s dependency on plastic:

- A plastic bag charge is enforced across the UK, with Wales being the first home nation to introduce the law in 2011. Since the 5p charge for plastic bags was enforced in 2015, the government estimates that 9 billion fewer bags have been used in England. There are moves to roll the charges out to all retailers as currently it only applies to those with over 250 employees. (Moneywise)

- The “latte levy” proposed a 25p charge on disposable cups in an attempt to replicate the success of the plastic bag charge. However this was rejected in March this year. (You can read more about our position on this proposal here.)

- There is now a ban on the manufacturing of microbeads, found in personal care products such as exfoliating scrubs and toothpaste. This will be extended to the sale of products containing microbeads from July 2018 onwards.

- The government has also recently given the go-ahead a deposit scheme for plastic drinking bottles.

What are the alternatives to single-use plastic straws?

As with all plastic products, there are a range of options to help customers avoid clutching at straws - both proverbial as well as physical. Alternative include straw-based straws (yes, straw!) glass, wheat, bamboo, metal, or even ice to chill your drinks. Edible straws are also available on the market made from seaweeds; think caramel flavoured straws for your iced latte.

One of the strongest materials to replace plastic straws may seem surprising -  paper - which is precisely the material we’ve chosen to work with: natural, compostable and strong till long after the last sip. Your customers can even pop our drinking straws in their home compost heap when they’re done. We should however highlight that even compostable materials will not necessarily break down in an ocean environment. Compostables require heat and naturally occurring microorganisms (that are found in the soil) to break down and we do not support the littering of our ocean with any material including paper.     

Making the switch from plastic to paper straws

Don’t be left holding the short plastic straw. Many leading retailers have already replaced their plastic straws with biodegradable ones, including McDonalds, Starbucks, Wetherspoons and Wagamama. (One Green Planet). If you’re thinking about making the switch ahead of regulatory changes our new Natural Drinking Straw could well be the last you ever buy.

You may also like the Marine Conservation Society’s website for even more ideas on how to break up with plastic.