Starbucks says so long to straws

GLOBAL coffee chain Starbucks on Monday announced it is to eliminate all plastic straws from its 28,000 stores by 2020, becoming the latest corporate giant to take steps to combat pollution from disposable plastic.

After months of tests, many of them carried out in Britain, the firm announced the news on Twitter.

The plastic straws will be replaced by recyclable lids that have a small raised opening allowing consumers to sip their drink, a model already road tested on some of the company’s cold beverages in the US and Canada.

Plastic straws have proven difficult to recycle, not because of what they are made from but by being too slim for recycling production lines to effectively sort through. The new lids, made of polypropylene, will be big enough for machines to recycle, Starbucks said.

“Starbucks is ... creating a mould for other large brands to follow,” said Chris Milne, director of packaging sourcing. “We are raising the waterline for what’s acceptable and inspiring our peers to follow suit.”

The store will automatically offer cold drinks with the new sipping lid, but for “frappuccinos”, a coffee mixed with ice, the store will offer paper straws or ones made of a compostable plastic based on fermented plant starch. Customers who prefer a straw with their drink can ask for one.