The industry is seeking ways and means to cut back on single-use plastic items and plastic straws, given the growing pile of waste all over the world; while big brands are committing to the use of more recycled material content in products.
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lastics items are growing and along with it, plastic waste. As of 2015, as much as 91% of plastic waste – constituting mostly of used bottles, containers, bags, single-use items, such as food service utensils and other scraps, – were landfilled; while a measly 9% was recycled and 12%, incinerated, according to a study, Production, Use, and Fate of all Plastics Ever Made, published in Science Advances in 2017.
Plastic waste is becoming an eyesore
The amount of plastic waste is anticipated to increase, unless policies to reduce plastic dependency of consumers, and proper waste management are enforced. Adieu plastic straws, hello recyclable cups Coming on the heels of the ban of single-use plastic bags, is the ban on plastic straws. The straw that broke the camel’s back is the US. The country alone uses 390 million straws/day, according to Freedonia. As huge as the country is, Seattle is the first major US city to ban drinking straws, having adopted an ordinance a decade ago requiring all single-use plastic items to be compostable or recyclable. Taking the cue, Starbucks Coffee Company has moved to straw-less lids, which are made from PP but are recyclable. Last year, it started serving cold drinks in straw-less lids, offering alternative-material options too, such as straws from paper or PLA. The policy will be enforced in more than 28,000 company-operated and licensed stores worldwide in phases up to 2020 and will reduce the use of 1 billion plastic straws/year.
Materials News
The final straw for plastic waste
Starbucks’s cold cup lids are used in more than 8,000 stores in the US and Canada as a standard for all iced drinks except for Frappuccino, which will be served with a straw made from paper or PLA
Another food retailer, McDonald’s, is also anticipated to boot plastic straws in the UK and Ireland, transitioning to paper straws in 2019. Already, alternatives are being trialled in the US, Australia, and at some of its restaurants in Europe. Meanwhile, in a bid to rid the planet of the 600 billion/ year disposable/single-use cups produced, Starbucks is working towards the development of the NextGen recyclable and compostable cup for hot drinks in a US$10 million commitment, together with New York-based principal investments firm Closed Loop Partners.
McDonald’s is trialling paper straws at its stores throughout the UK AUGUST 2018
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