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Starbucks will eliminate plastic straws from all of its locations within two years. A week after its hometown banned plastic drinking straws and utensils, the Seattle company said by 2020, it will be using straws made from biodegradable materials like paper and specially designed lids. Currently, at select locations, Starbucks offers alternative straws to its customers.
The strawless lids will begin to appear in Seattle and Vancouver Starbucks this fall, with phased rollouts within the U.S. and Canada to follow next year. A global rollout of the strawless lids will follow, beginning in Europe where the will be used in select stores in France and the Netherlands, as well as in the United Kingdom.
The company becomes the largest food and beverage company to do so as calls to cut waste globally grow louder. The waste issue is coming up in company boardrooms, though Starbucks is taking the lead. In February, Dunkin Donuts said it would eliminate polystyrene foam cups from its locations by 2020.
Also, McDonald’s recently said it would switch to paper straws in the United Kingdom and Ireland by next year, and test alternative straws in select locations in the United States. And by 2025, it will only use recycled or other environmentally friendly materials for its soda cups, Happy Meal Boxes, and other packaging.
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