Hot tip for companies wanting to do their bit for the environment: before you get your plastic straws banned and replaced with paper ones, maybe check that they’re recyclable and aren’t going straight into landfill.
At least, that’s the case in the UK where McDonalds moved from plastic straws to paper ones in a move to address plastic pollution and in so doing just created a fresh environmental problem.
An internal memo went around, first reported by the Sun, which advised branches that the straws “are not yet recyclable and should be disposed of in general waste until further notice.”
And to be fair, before you start screaming about McDonalds greenwashing and Virtue Signalling Gone Mad, it’s not actually their fault.
The UK government announced that the nation would be going plastic-straw free by 2020, which is a laudable sort of an aim, and asked fast food companies to lead the charge.
The only problem is that “While the materials are recyclable, their current thickness makes it difficult for them to be processed by our waste solution providers, who also help us recycle our paper cups,” according to a McDonald’s spokesperson.
So it’s more a matter of the United Kingdom’s recycling infrastructure not being caught up with new necessities – but even so, not a great look when your banned plastic straws are more friendly to the environment than are the replacements.
Anyway, we’ve taken our responsibilities seriously and now carry a hollow reed around with us at all times in case we need to imbibe liquids.
It’s the only sensible thing to do.