McDonald’s Paper Straws Are Fully Recyclable, it’s the Infrastructure That Needs Changed

Straws have been a big thing in the past year since our mass attempts at plastic reduction, with establishments like Wetherspoon, Pret and McDonald’s ditching the plastic straws for paper – which has caused a lot of public upset with the main view being that their straws turn to mush before reaching the bottom of their drinks.

However, in the recent days, McDonald’s put out a statement discussing how the paper straws have been strengthened in order to meet the customers’ demands of a straw that doesn’t become part of the drink – which is a fair request – however they have suggested throwing the straws out into the general waste rather than recycling, as the thickness deems it difficult to get rid of in the ideal environmentally friendly ways.  Despite claims, the straws themselves are fully recyclable, which has been stated by the makers, it just comes down to the simple fact that with the thickness, waste solution providers and local authorities cannot process them unless collected separately, which is more of a problem with the recycling infrastructure and the lack of upkeep with the paper straw demands.

As time goes on hopefully we will find a solution, but for now angry customers are making a petition to bring back the plastic which has already gotten 51,000 signatures.