Is a paper straw really better than a plastic one? – 11/19/2023 – Environment

You’ve probably had this problem: you order a juice to enjoy at lunch, an iced coffee on a hot afternoon or a drink on a Friday night, and it arrives with a brightly colored paper straw.

After a few sips, however, the straw begins to fall apart, forcing you to remove it and leave it on the table, producing a puddle of drink on the surface.

Paper straws have become nearly ubiquitous in bars and eateries as the food industry has rushed to ditch plastic in response to consumer demand.

But although they don’t remain in the environment for around 300 years like those made from plastic, paper straws leave a lot to be desired.

A recent study also highlighted another possible concern.

Paper straws evaluated by researchers at the University of Antwerp in Belgium were found to contain more “forever chemicals” — per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS — than plastic.

These long-lived PFAS can remain in the environment for decades, contaminate water supplies, and are associated with a range of health problems.

The researchers behind the study say their results suggest that paper straws — in addition to bamboo straws, which also contained PFAS — are not necessarily a more sustainable alternative to plastic.

The high levels of forever chemicals they contain, researchers say, could be considered a question mark for how “biodegradable” these alternatives actually are.

Looking for alternatives

As someone who started embracing alternatives to plastic straws nearly a decade ago, I wanted to know more.

I also wanted to know about other factors that need to be taken into account, such as emissions that worsen climate change produced from different types of straws.

A not very scientific but often repeated estimate puts the number of disposable straws used every day in the US at 500 million.

The validity of this statistic has been disputed and the actual number may be less than half that figure.

In Brazil, 1,200 tons of plastic straws were produced in 2020, according to data from the Annual Industrial Survey (PIA) of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).

While estimates about exactly how many straws are used each year and how many end up in the environment are difficult to confirm, what is clear is that plastic straws are everywhere.

They are found in large numbers in beach cleanups around the world.

They have been found piercing the stomachs of penguins and even stuck inside the nostril of an olive ridley turtle.

A horrific video of this last case is particularly etched in my memory.

I’m a huge animal lover, so I was quick to encourage my friends to opt for alternatives to plastic. Most plastic waste experts I spoke to consider this video a major catalyst for the anti-plastic straw movement.

American environmentalist Milo Cress also deserves some credit – in 2011, at the age of nine, he published the statistic of 500 million straws per day and started the Be Straw Free movement.

The campaign ended up inspiring large companies like Starbucks and McDonald’s to stop using plastic straws and entire American states like California to ban them completely.

In Brazil, by 2020, at least eight states already banned straws: Acre, Espírito Santo, Goiás, Maranhão, Mato Grosso do Sul, Rio Grande do Norte, Santa Catarina and São Paulo.

A drop in the ocean

While this may seem like a huge benefit to sustainability, upon taking a closer look at the environmental impact of plastic straws, I was surprised to learn that it is a drop in the ocean compared to other plastic pollution.

Walking on the beach, plastic straws are one of the most common types of litter you’ll see – recent research carried out on a beach on the Indian coast of Gujarat in the Arabian Sea found that they made up 9% of the litter there.

But in fact, they only represent a small fraction of the plastic waste that enters the environment.

Although the numbers vary depending on the method used, it is worth looking at the data collected by the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) in its “Global Plastics Outlook” study.

This survey estimates that around 380 million tons of plastic waste are produced globally every year, of which around 23 million tons end up in the environment. It also estimates that around 1.7 million tons end up in the ocean annually, although other studies have put the number between 4.8 and 12.7 million tons.

Of the 380 million tonnes of plastic waste produced, around 43 million tonnes comes from consumer products that include single-use plastics from the food and beverage industry. Approximately 14 million tons of this total, or 3.7% of total plastic waste, is made from polypropylene, the main material used in plastic straws.

In the oceans, fishing nets are among the most prevalent forms of plastic pollution.

A study published in 2018 found that 46% of the 1.8 billion pieces of plastic estimated to be in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch come from fishing nets.

So why have plastic straws become an emblem of the problem of plastic pollution, if their impact is minimal?

“The straw has become a symbol of a choice that an individual can make that also has an impact,” says Erin Simon, vice president of plastic waste and business at WWF (World Wildlife Fund). free).

“And although we know it’s not that simple, and that the problem goes far beyond the use of plastic straws, a global crisis like plastic pollution can only be solved when everyone does their part.”

Of course, ditching plastic straws won’t solve the problem of plastic pollution, but it puts the problem in the public eye.

“Currently, more than 460 million metric tons of new plastic are produced around the world annually, and this number is increasing year after year,” says Jackie Nuñez, founder of the NGO The Last Plastic Straw and engagement manager at the Coalition Against Plastic Pollution.

“The conversation about single-use plastic and the pollution it causes is now widespread and global.”

The movement against plastic straws helped garner popular support that ended up turning into large-scale actions.

In 2022, the United Nations Environment Assembly began negotiating a Global Plastics Treaty with 170 countries, to address the issue of plastic pollution globally, and aims to implement it by the end of 2024.

The pollution life cycle

Despite their relatively small environmental impact when compared to other types of plastic, straws have become a case study for the impact that single-use plastic can have throughout its life cycle.

Surprisingly, a study by researchers in Thailand suggests that traditional plastic straws made from polypropylene, despite being made from fossil fuels, have a lower carbon footprint than bioplastic straws (polylactic acid or PLA), which are assumed to be biodegradable.

After evaluating greenhouse gas emissions attributable to the straws’ raw materials, production, and disposal, researchers found that PLA straws produced more emissions due to the amount of land required to grow and harvest the natural materials used in the straw. manufacturing.

Another study also recently found that PLA straws are not as biodegradable as initially thought.

The amount of greenhouse gases released over the life cycle of paper straws has been estimated to be somewhere between the same as plastic straws and a quarter of the emissions.

A set of life cycle assessments carried out by researchers in Brazil in 2020 produced similar results, finding that paper straws have a greater relative environmental impact than plastic straws.

Again, the use of land necessary for the production of raw materials – trees – was the main reason. The study, however, did not take into account its impact on marine life, where researchers admitted that plastic straws would likely have the greatest impact, as paper straws degrade quickly in water.

It’s important to note that, like plastic straws, paper straws typically cannot be recycled.

And a UK government assessment also concluded that paper straws emit more greenhouse gases when they rot in landfill compared to plastic straws.

Disposable vs. Fossil fuels

Initially, I embraced the movement against plastic straws because it seemed like a concrete action to protect marine life.

While this is partly true, according to Shelie Miller, professor of sustainable systems at the University of Michigan in the US, most straws end up being incinerated or thrown into landfills.

Once deposited in landfills, plastics slowly degrade, decomposing and transforming into microplastics that can be released into the general environment or even produce potentially harmful chemical contamination. But the amount of greenhouse gases produced by plastic straws is relatively low.

“[Evitar] a car trip totaling 72.4 km is the equivalent [em emissões] to not use plastic water bottles for four years,” says Miller, who made these calculations using the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Waste Reduction Model.

“Most of us would be very concerned if we threw away three pounds of plastic every day, but burning a gallon of gasoline is something we do without thinking.”

Reusable straws

If you want to continue using straws — or need them due to a disability — Nuñez suggests opting for reusable, non-plastic straws.

Metal and glass straws are much safer and resist wear and tear longer than plastic straws, but even these have their problems.

According to one assessment, a glass straw is responsible for 44 times more greenhouse gas emissions compared to a plastic straw, while stainless steel straws emit 148 times more.

Bamboo straws are better, but they still produce 27 times more carbon dioxide than plastic straws.

Another study in South Africa found that you would need to use a glass straw 23 to 39 times and a stainless steel straw 37 to 63 times to offset the environmental impact they create when they are manufactured and sold.

Fortunately, a well-made reusable straw will serve you perfectly for hundreds of reuses.

Another big advantage that researchers noted, however, is that reusable straws don’t usually end up in the ocean.

So it’s far from a simple choice.

The scientific evidence is mixed, depending on where you look for environmental damage. Every expert I spoke to said it’s best to refuse straws altogether if possible. So you can relax and enjoy your drink.

This text was originally published here.