Any sort of plastic has been very useful for mankind over the past couple of decades. It has definitely proven its worth, but unfortunately, mankind didn’t exactly foresee what this could mean for the environment. Some cities all over the world have already banned the usage of any kind of plastic, and some grocery stores and other places like restaurants are trying to follow these footsteps, just like this one.
Plastic straws no more for McDonald’s UK
McDonald’s UK Plastic Straw Ban
An official report was released by McDonald’s UK a few days ago, wherein they said that by 2019, they will officially ban the usage of plastic straws in all of their branches all over the United Kingdom.
This is a decision they had to make after about half a million people called and said they would boycott the said fast-food chain if they don’t end the usage of plastic straws in their stores. It turns out that McDonald’s restaurants all over the United Kingdom uses more than 1.8 million plastic straws every single day, hence they really are pushing the switch from plastic straws to paper straws.
There are 1,361 McDonald’s branches all over the country and they will all be following the change. This will however, only affect the branches in the United Kingdom and not in thousands of restaurants all over the world.
Starting September, plastic straws will be replaced with paper straws
It is a known fact how plastic, especially plastic straws are harming the environment, especially all the marine creatures who tend to eat them when they get into the ocean waters. The population of seabirds also gets affected became of how much plastic they are consuming without them knowing.
This is why the Sum of Us organization actually petitioned for this change and McDonald’s said that they really listened to their customers which is why they will begin the banning process this upcoming September and hopes to finish it all up in 2019. According to a statement released by the chief executive of McDonald’s United Kingdom office, Paul Pomroy, after a lot of talks, they have decided to listen to their customers and officially ban the use of plastic straws, but with the assurance that they will still provide a great experience to their diners.
The paper straws will not compromise their dining experience at the said fast-food chain. When asked where they will be getting their straws, McDonald’s said that they will be getting it from a supplier in Northern Ireland and Wales but also from the new company in the UK in the coming months.
Plastic to Paper
McDonald’s is actually not the very first one to switch from plastic to paper straw in the UK, became Pizza Express, Costa Coffee, and Wetherspoons have actually done it as well. This is one of the reasons why businessmen all over the United Kingdom are trying to get into the manufacturing industry of paper straws.
This is because no one makes paper straws in Great Britain, companies have to get them from manufacturers from Ireland and Wales, which is what McDonald’s are doing. According to the newest paper straw manufacturers, Transcend Packaging, they actually took this major change in businesses as an opportunity for them.
Their sales marketing director, Mark Varney, said that it is great since it is not just beneficial for the environment, but also to growing business like them. The company and its business partners are looking into building a paper production plant in the country. He even mentioned that it this is what people want and they will make it possible and accessible to everyone in the United Kingdom.
People urged McDonald’s to ban plastic straws
The paper straw manufacturer in Wales is known to be producing hundreds of millions of paper straws every single year. People are starting to urge companies like McDonald’s to stop using plastic straws because of the BBC series Blue Planet II, wherein they basically show how much plastic is taking over the lives of marine animals all over the oceans of the world. It was even the most watched TV show in the country last year.
Unfortunately, according to a report by the World Economic Forum, by the year 2050, there will be more plastics in the ocean than fish, which is why countries are doing whatever they can to prevent this from happening as early as now.