Starbucks declare Monday that it plans to eliminate exclusive - use plastic straws in its more than 28,000 stores worldwide by 2020 . Plastic stalk will be replaced by recyclable lids that consumers can sip from directly , as well as new straws made from alternate material .
It ’s one ofseveral companiesin recent months tobanone - time - use of goods and services charge card items like wheat . Starbucks is the largest food and beverage retailer to have made such a commitment so far , and look to it will eliminate more than 1 billion plastic straw from memory each class , according to astatement .
It comes day after Seattle became the first US city toban charge plate straws , need all food service line of work to use reusable or compostable utensils and packaging .
Customers in the company ’s hometown of Seattle and nearby Vancouver will be the first to see the strawless lids as they rove out this drop . phase introductions of the lid will keep on through next year in more than 8,000 stores in the US and Canada , and choice storage in Asia .
“ For our partners and customers , this is a meaning milestone to attain our spherical aspiration of sustainable coffee , served to our client in more sustainable ways , ” suppose Kevin Johnson , prexy and CEO , in astatement . The troupe say it ’s part of a $ 10 - million commitment to develop fully recyclable and compostable cups .
Today , charge card straws are a top contributor to the more than8 million tonnes(8.8 million tons ) of plastic that makes its way into the ocean every twelvemonth . An estimated437 million to 8.3 billionplastic husk launder ashore on the cosmos ’s coastline yearly , while roughly5 trillion piecesof plastic are floating in the ocean at this very moment , weigh more than 250,000 MT ( 275,000 tons ) . estimate suggest charge card in our seas will outweigh fish by2050 .
Plastics are making their wayup the food chainas well , and even into thebellies of deep - ocean fish . plastic arefoundin nearly every body of water and on every continent in the world – traces of plastichave now been line up in Antarctica .
While single - use plastic bans like this one are astepin the right focusing , it come along society still has quite along wayto go .
