More firms ban plastic drinking straws to help stem tide of plastic threatening planet

INCREASING NUMBERS of businesses are removing plastic drinking straws from their operations as efforts to stem the “tide” of plastic waste gather pace.

Marriott International, London City Airport and Eurostar are among the latest companies announcing measures to remove single-use plastic straws from hotels, food and drink outlets and train carriages.

They join chains including All Bar One, JD Wetherspoon, Costa Coffee, Pizza Express and Wagamama in phasing out the throwaway items from their venues, with many offering biodegradable alternatives.

Iceland has ended sales of ownbrand plastic straws while organisations as varied as the Scotch Whisky Association and the Natural History Museum have also rejected their use.

The moves come amid increasing calls from environmentalists for businesses to “ditch” plastic straws, which can harm marine wildlife such as turtles and fish.

An online campaign, Refuse The Straw, calls on people to reject straws and start drinking from the glass.

Green campaigners also want wider efforts to crack down on rising levels of plastic waste, from tiny shreds to drinks bottles and fishing gear, which is polluting the oceans and coasts, an issue most recently highlighted in the BBC’s series.

The latest Great British Beach Clean by the Marine Conservation Society revealed rising levels of throwaway food and drink utensils including cutlery, trays and straws – up almost a quarter (23 per cent) in a year.

More than 5,000 such items were picked up in the clean-up event in September, across 339 beaches around the UK.

Dr Laura Foster, Marine Conservation Society head of clean seas, said: “A straw is only used for a matter of minutes but leaves a legacy that may last centuries in the environment.

“We’ve found thousands of straws at our beach cleans, and millions of people have seen film footage of the harm they do to wildlife such as marine turtles.”

Welcoming the latest moves, Greenpeace UK ocean campaigner, Louise Edge, said: “Straws are among the worst examples of the use-once-and-bin plastic threatening our oceans. They can do real harm to marine life.”