It's always nice to see a corporate movement towards practices that result in less waste.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/briti...plastic-straws-from-all-restaurants-1.4698272
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/briti...plastic-straws-from-all-restaurants-1.4698272
A&W restaurants in Canada will eliminate plastic straws from its locations by January 2019.
The burger shack will become the first fast-food chain in North America to eliminate plastic straws in favour of biodegradable paper straws, according to representatives from A&W Canada.
"We're on a waste reduction journey," said director of packaging Tyler Pronyk at an announcement on Friday. "By the end of the year, there will be no plastic straws in our restaurants."
Restaurants will begin making the transition in August. The chain, which has close to 1,000 locations, says it will fully phase out plastic straws by the end of 2018 and offer paper straws instead.
Officials say paper straws will last two to three hours in a drink without breaking down, and biodegrade in three to six months.
The move will prevent 82 million plastic straws from ending up in landfills every year, according to A&W Canada.
Food analysts suspect A&W's move could set off a chain reaction, igniting other major fast-food chains to follow suit.
"As we look at the movements to ban plastic straws ... it's only a matter of time before it happens here in the Canadian marketplace," said Robert Carter, a food service industry analyst with the Toronto-based NPD Group.
"This is part of the dialogue for most restaurants right now around the plastic straw issue," he added. "Operators who don't move to it or don't address the consumer needs and concerns — there might be a bit of a backlash."