War on plastic leaves manufacturers clutching at straws

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PARIS, July 1, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – For decades, plastic straws have been
essential props for cocktail makers, smoothie lovers and fast food addicts.

But that may be starting to change, thanks largely to vigorous
environmental campaigning.

Under pressure from activists, the European Union, Britain, India and even
fast food giants like McDonald’s have all made some headway towards bringing
the use of plastic straws to an end.

And with public pressure growing on governments, particularly in Europe,
to ban single use plastics, manufacturers are feeling the heat.

According to peer-reviewed US journal Science magazine, eight million
tonnes of plastic are dumped into the Earth’s oceans and seas each year —
250 kilogrammes (550 pounds) every second.

For years, the focus of environmentalists has been on plastic bags. But
plastic straws have now come into the spotlight, thanks in part to images
that have gone viral on the internet.

One online video about the danger posed by seemingly innocuous straws
shows a sea turtle rescued off Costa Rica getting one removed from its
nostril.

– Baby steps –

The British government in April said it planned to ban the sale of single-
use plastics including straws.

The European Union followed suit in late May.

In India’s commercial capital Mumbai, Burger King, McDonald’s and
Starbucks were fined for violating a ban on single use plastics, an official
said earlier in June.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pledged to make his country free
of single use plastic by 2022.

Some corporations are also taking steps.

In the UK and Ireland, McDonald’s has pledged to complete a transition to
paper straws by 2019.

In France, the burger giant is testing alternatives.

The Hilton hotel giant in May vowed to remove the offenders from its 650
properties by the end of 2018.

“Laid end to end, the straws saved each year in (Europe, the Middle East
and Africa) would exceed the length of the River Seine,” the hotel chain said
in a statement.

There are alternatives to plastic straws, but they are much pricier.

The five-star Monte Carlo Palace hotel in Monaco has introduced
biodegradable straws.

Others are using raw pasta and bamboo sticks.

The United States is resisting change while Europe takes the lead with
biodegradable plastics made either from fossil fuels or crops such as
potatoes and corn.

Some 100,000 tonnes of bioplastics were produced in 2016 in the world,
according to Germany’s specialist Nova-Institute.

In 2017, biodegradable plastic production capacity rose to 800,000 tonnes
globally, the European Bioplastics industrial group said.

And while this may appear to be a step in the right direction,
manufacturers are concerned about the impact outright bans would have on
their sales.

“It’s not a very good sign,” said Herve Millet, technical and regulatory
affairs manager at PlasticsEurope, the region’s leading plastics
manufacturers’ association.

“But … big corporations also have concerns over their image and they
must at least try to find a way to respond to society’s expectations.”

– No miracle cure –

Europe’s top plastic straws manufacturer Soyez, which is based in France,
is also uncertain about how to make the transition.

“The problem isn’t new and it’s serious, so we obviously need to find
alternatives,” the company’s director Pierre Soyez said.

“We’ve been working on this for several months,” he said, adding that it
was “really complicated” to try to make the shift overnight.

Experts, meanwhile, warn that biodegradable plastics may not be a miracle
solution anyway.

“People think that biodegradable means nothing is dumped in nature. But
that’s not the case at all,” engineer Virginie Le Ravalec of the French
Environment and Energy Management Agency.

A separate collection system for bioplastic waste would need to be set up
in order for the shift to really work, and that would involve millions in
investment from states.

Activists fear, however, that biowaste may end up in the oceans — much
like plastic has for decades.

“Over periods of days, weeks or even months, a bioplastic item could
present just as much threat to marine life as a conventional plastic item,”
Fiona Nicholls of Greenpeace warned.

As such, Nicholls says humanity’s only hope is to reduce our use of
plastics.

“Swapping one plastic for another … is not a fix to the plastic
pollution problem that our oceans and waterways face.”