Plastic bags, bits, and straws floating in the oceans. Straws are now seen as symbolic for plastic that lasts centuries and is harmful to marine life, and so is the subject of increasing bans, the latest is the giant international coffee chain, Starbucks (Shutterstock)

Starbucks: joining the anti-plastic movment

The campaign against the millions of tonnes of plastic waste which enters the environment annually got another boost today.

The huge international coffee outlet chain, Starbucks announced a plan today that it will begin phasing out use of plastic straws and lids, towards elimination by 2020.

It will begin the switch to bio-degradable materials like paper straws and other materials for it’s lids.

Britain announced plans in April to ban the sale of single-use plastic straws, following the lead of Taiwan, which in February became the first country to announce it will gradually ban the use of plastic straws, increasingly seen as a symbol of pollution and something that is not really necessary (David Chang-EPA-EFE)

Although about 57 million straws are used daily in Canada, it represents only about 4 per cent of plastic waste. Nevertheless the straws have become a flashpoint for plastic waste in recent years as more and more firms say they will stop their use such as the well-known and popular Blue Mountain summer and winter resort in Ontario which also announced today it will stop using plastic straws along with many other businesses across the country.

Other large fast food chains such as Harvey’s, Swiss Chalet, Kelsey’s and East Side Mario’s, all part of Recipe Unlimited Corporation’s 19 brands, have all been moving toward plastic straw elimination by 2019.

The international A&W chain said it will end plastic straws by the end of this year.

RCI- Jun 2018: ban on single-use plastic bags

Some cities like Seattle, Washington, and Fort Meyers, Florida, have joined in by announcing they have or are planning to ban plastic straws

Other concerns are being addressed by firms like Dunkin Donuts which announced it would begin using alternatives for its polystyrene cups by 2020.

Cities like Montreal have begun to ban ultra-lightweight single use plastic bags which tend to end up as landfill or blowing around the environment.

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Categories: Economy, Environment & Animal Life, International
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