【HaiChuan Chemical Forum】McDonald’s is phasing out straws – what’s your opinion?
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To protect the environment, fast-food chain giant McDonald’s recently announced that it will pilot a program to reduce the use of straws in some of its restaurants in Beijing. In July of this year, Starbucks also said that by 2020 all of its 28,000 stores around the world will ban plastic straws entirely. McDonald’s China launches a pilot program in Beijing. Reporters have learned that in an effort to encourage consumers to use fewer straws, McDonald’s China is implementing a plan to reduce straw usage in 10 restaurants in Beijing starting today (November 1). Some of these restaurants are testing straw-free cup lids, while other restaurants will not provide straws at all. In the “straw-free cup lids” restaurant, the cup lids for beverages have been replaced. Previously, a straw could be inserted into the center of the cup lid, but the new lid has a straw hole only at the edge, allowing customers to drink directly without using a straw. McDonald’s China also announced in Beijing recently that, from the end of this year through 2022, the company plans to open over 1,800 green restaurants. By 2020, all of McDonald’s China’s paper-based food packaging will be made from paper that has received international forest certification, while efforts will also be made to reduce the amount of packaging material used. Starting this month, some McDonald’s restaurants in Beijing will pilot a program to reduce the use of straws. As is well known, straws are made of plastic, and plastic waste is recycled slowly with a low reuse rate, having a negative impact on the world’s ecological environment. In June of this year, the magazine **Geography** had its photographer focus on oceans polluted by plastic and the marine creatures that struggle there. One after another, the real photos are shocking to see. The reporter noted that in August and September of this year, McDonald’s stopped using plastic straws in its restaurants in countries and regions such as Australia, the UK, and Ireland, replacing them with paper straws. As planned, McDonald’s in Belgium has also completed the testing of paper tubes, with trials set to begin by the end of the year in the United States, France, Sweden, Norway, and other countries.
Starbucks: Banning plastic straws by 2020 As mentioned at the beginning of this article, in addition to the fast-food giant McDonald’s, Starbucks also introduced a similar policy in early July of this year – it plans to phase out plastic straws over the course of two years, so that by 2020, more than 28,000 of its stores around the world will have completely eliminated the use of plastic straws! Starbucks states that there are alternative solutions available already – for regular cold drinks, they will design the lids with a teardrop-shaped opening the size of a fingertip, allowing consumers to enjoy their drinks without a straw. For products like Starbuck’s Iced Coffee, paper straws or recyclable plastic straws are used as alternatives. These new cup lids have already been adopted by 8,000 stores in the United States and Canada, with replacements to be introduced gradually in other regions as well. Chris Milne, Starbucks’ director of packaging procurement, said, “The plastic straws currently in use cannot be recycled, but the lid we have developed recently can be recycled.” Our decision is more sustainable and demonstrates a greater sense of social responsibility; it also sets an example for other food service businesses. ” According to official Starbucks data, cold drinks account for over 50% of all beverage sales at Starbucks. In other words, after Starbucks banned plastic straws in its more than 28,000 stores around the world in 2020, it will save 1 billion straws for the planet each year.
It seems that for adults, it’s fine to do without straws, but after all, McDonald’s has many child customers, and not having straws is quite inconvenient,,,
Plastic causes pollution after use, while paper causes pollution before use; it depends on what one chooses
Any effort aimed at reducing pollution is praiseworthy. With better alternatives available, it is widely accepted to use materials that are low in energy consumption, low in pollution, and low in toxicity. By the way, does the poster’s texture seem to contain advertising elements? P;P;P
No, how many people at HaiChuan Chemical eat at Golden Arches or drink drinks from Dabianzi?
I see that boxed milk and yogurt all come with straws
Plastic pollution is very serious nowadays; there is a lot of plastic on the seabed, as well as in the Arctic and Antarctic. Tests on humans have revealed a large amount of plastic particles in human excreta. The plastic restriction policy has had limited success, but it represents a trend.
But suddenly it was realized that in fact, it’s not McDonald’s bags that account for the largest portion; it’s the plastic bags from supermarkets and markets that do