McDonalds to Only use Paper Straws from now on

McDonalds to Only use Paper Straws from now on


Food/Health Way of consumption

McDonalds has announced it is set to replace its plastic straws with environmentally friendly paper straws in all of its stores within the UK and Ireland.

With news that the government is planning to place a ban on the sale of plastic straws in England, McDonalds are due to withdraw plastic straws from September 2018.

Impact on the environment

With growing concern amongst the public with regards to single-use plastics and their impact on the environment, particularly on marine life and the accumulation of plastics in the oceans, a trial in selected restaurants has resulted in positive feedback from customers.

McDonalds currently have 1361 restaurants in the UK. The chief executive, Paul Pomroy said: 'Our customers told us they wanted to see a move on straws...without compromising their overall experience at the restaurants'. The global chain is responding to increasing concern about the use of an estimated 8.5 billion plastic straws per year.

The paper straws that should have replaced the plastic straws in all of the company's UK and Ireland branches by 2019 will be recyclable in store and made using environmentally friendly biodegradable paper sourced for certifiably sustainable sources. They will be made using fully recycled materials. Although the current petroleum-based plastic straws are currently recyclable, they rarely are. Although they are not the biggest plastic polluter in the oceans, they can be amongst the most hazardous due to their size making it easy for marine life to ingest.

The mortality rate amongst marine animals that ingest plastic is 50%, and so the move from plastic to paper straws will go some way to protecting the wildlife and marine animals. The current straws take hundreds of years to decompose if not recycled, and with around 1.8 million straws being used in the company's UK restaurants each day, it poses a significant problem 

News written by the team of The-shops.co.uk The-Shops.co.uk

News in the same category

Manchester : Special Easter egg from the chocolate shop Slattery

Manchester : Special Easter egg from the chocolate shop Slattery

With over 7.5-million photos of unicorns on Instagram, you’d have thought no-one could squeeze another unicorn into, or onto, anything else – well they have. But this one will be of more interest to the grown-ups.

  • Food/Health
Poundland: rising above the £1 billion sales

Poundland: rising above the £1 billion sales

The very first Poudland store opened in December 1990, in Burton-upon-Trent. Now the discount retailer counts about 550 stores, for the UK only. It entered the stock market in March 2014. And just passed the £1 billion sales mark.

  • Shop
  • Way of consumption
BiBoVino, the wine merchant that says goodbye to bottles

BiBoVino, the wine merchant that says goodbye to bottles

It is no use looking for a bottle of wine in BiBoVino stores, as bottles have simply been replaced by Bag-in-Boxes (BiB) of 3 or 5 litres. However, the store makes a point of selecting quality wines.

  • Shop
  • Way of consumption
England introduces the 5p plastic bag tax, at last

England introduces the 5p plastic bag tax, at last

Starting today, shopping in England will eventually cost you an extra 5p for the plastic carrier bag, unless you bring your own shopping bag, or shop in smaller stores.

  • Way of consumption
McDonalds to Only use Paper Straws from now on