Starbucks Announces Plans to Ban Single-Use Plastic Straws by 2020

Emily Wang
Updated
They will be replaced by strawless lids and straws made out of materials like paper and "compostable plastic."

Starbucks is jumping on the strawless bandwagon. On Monday, the coffee giant became the latest company to denounce single-use plastic straws, revealing plans to ban them entirely from its stores worldwide by 2020. Instead, Starbucks announced in a press release, it will start using "strawless lids" and straws made from "alternative materials," such as paper or "compostable plastic." According to the press release, these straws will be available by request.

As for the "strawless lids," Starbucks is already using them in about 8,000 select stores around North America. These currently come with drinks like the Starbucks Draft Nitro and Cold Foam, and will come with the Salted Cream Cold Foam Cold Brew to be released on Tuesday. They essentially look like sippy cup lids — regular plastic lids with a raised and slanted mouthpiece for customers to drink from.

Starbucks joins companies, cities, and countries around the world that have banned plastic straws. As Fast Company reported, plastic straws have been banned or are planned to be banned by Alaska Airlines and McDonald's U.K., as well as in Vancouver, the U.K., Taiwan, Seattle, Miami Beach, and in California cities such as Oakland and Berkeley, to name a few.

But while such policies are intended to reduce plastic pollution in the ocean, as Pacific Standard reported, they've been questioned for their effectiveness and criticized for being ableist. As BBC News reported in February, a Scotland-based disability group called One in Five says paper, plant-based, and metal straws aren't adequate substitutes for single-use plastic straws and could even be dangerous for people, depending on their disability.

"As you may be aware most paper and plant-based alternatives are not flexible or suitable for drinks over 40C, therefore increases the risks of choking," One in Five wrote in a letter, according to BBC News. "Metal straws can be dangerous for people with neurological conditions such as Parkinson's whereas reusable plastic straws present hygiene concerns to people with specific health conditions."

Starbucks says that customers in Seattle and Vancouver will be the first to go strawless beginning this fall, with more markets to follow.