Plastic Straws: Overview

Introduction

Since the late twentieth century, single-use, disposable plastic items have been a concern among environmentalists, who noted that widely used items such as plastic bags and disposable plastic cutlery could take hundreds of years to decompose in landfills. They likewise called attention to improper disposal of plastic products, which led to the widespread presence of plastic in both land and marine environments, where it was found to harm wildlife. In the 2010s, environmentalists became particularly concerned about the widespread use of disposable plastic straws, items that had become ubiquitous in US restaurants and quick-serve establishments since the mid-twentieth century. In response to such concerns, a number of US cities began to consider banning the distribution of plastic straws in restaurants, while major businesses likewise announced plans to replace single-use plastic straws with alternative options.

As the proposed laws and policies concerning single-use plastic straws became the subject of extensive discussion in the US media, an intense debate arose surrounding the issue. While those skeptical of the efficacy or appropriateness of plastic straw bans expressed a variety of viewpoints, perhaps the most vital debate about the issue was that between environmentalists and advocates for people with disabilities. Advocates of banning or limiting the distribution of plastic straws argued that single-use straws contribute significantly to the accumulation of plastic waste in landfills and the environment and are harmful to both humans and wildlife. However, some opponents of plastic straw bans argued that disposable straws are a vital tool for many people with disabilities and that eliminating or replacing them could harm such individuals. They likewise argued that introducing opt-in policies for straw distribution or requiring people with disabilities to supply their own straws placed a significant burden upon that population.

Understanding the Discussion

Assembly Bill No. 1884: California state legislation, signed into law in September 2018, that prohibited all full-service restaurants from providing customers with single-use plastic straws unless asked.

Biodegradable: Able to be broken down by microorganisms.

Microplastics: Tiny pieces of plastic, less than five millimeters across, often created as larger plastic items break down.

Plastic: A synthetic substance typically composed of petroleum-based materials that can be molded into a wide range of reusable and disposable products.

Polypropylene: A form of plastic commonly used in straws.

Single-use plastic straw: A straw composed of plastic and intended to be disposed of after one use, as opposed to a reusable straw.

History

Since the late nineteenth century, products manufactured out of plastic have played a major role in the everyday lives of people in the United States and around the world. After World War II, manufacturers began to create and market a vast range of plastic items for everyday purposes, including disposable items that could be discarded after a single use. Plastic drinking straws were introduced in the 1960s and soon became popular throughout the United States due to their disposability, low cost, and flexible and durable nature. The new straws replaced older implements such as paper straws, which were similarly disposable but costlier and less durable. Alongside numerous other items made of plastic or containing plastic elements, including beverage bottles, diapers, shopping and trash bags, and a variety of other fixtures of daily life, plastic straws became part of the United States’ substantial production of plastic, which according to the US Environmental Protection Agency resulted in the generation of 34.5 million tons of plastic in the United States in 2015. That same year, 3.1 million tons of plastic were recycled in the United States, 5.4 million tons were disposed of through combustion, and 26 million tons were sent to landfills.

As plastic products became increasingly widespread throughout the late twentieth century and into the twenty-first, concerns arose about the effects the large amounts of plastic being produced and eventually discarded was having on the environment, both on land and at sea. While some forms of plastic are biodegradable and can therefore be broken down by organisms such as bacteria, many common plastics are not. Thus, the time it takes for a plastic item to degrade in a landfill or another environment varies substantially depending on the type of plastic, ranging from a matter of years or decades to possibly never. In addition, scientists and environmental activists were particularly concerned about the amount of plastic waste that had made its way into the ocean. A 2015 study published in Science found that between 4.8 and 12.7 million metric tons of plastic waste entered the ocean worldwide in the year 2010. One effect of plastic entering the ocean was the creation of floating patches of waste, such as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which is composed primarily of plastic waste more than twice as wide as the state of Texas and located in the northern Pacific Ocean. Upon entering the ocean, plastic waste has the potential to hurt or kill marine life, which could become entangled in items such as bags or six-pack rings or could consume harmful plastic substances. Concerned individuals and organizations also worried about the potential harm caused by microplastics, or very small pieces of plastic that are created when a larger plastic item degrades into smaller pieces. As microplastics are at times consumed by sea life that may go on to be eaten by humans, some environmentalists suggested that potentially harmful microplastics could be entering the human body.

In response to such concerns, environmental activists and advocacy groups led a variety of initiatives to reduce the manufacture, consumption, and disposal of plastic products. In addition to promoting recycling of plastics, groups and individuals attempted to encourage the public to cut down on their use of disposable plastic items. An early target of such groups were plastic bags, particularly those used to bag consumers’ purchases in stores. In response to such efforts, the city of San Francisco, California, banned plastic bags in 2007. Other cities later implemented similar policies, including taxes on single-use bags, with the goal of decreasing the use of such bags and promoting the use of reusable bags. Following such developments, environmental organizations turned their focus to plastic straws, another common—and commonly discarded—item found in many Americans’ everyday lives. Environmentalists often cite an estimate that Americans use 500 million straws every day, a number determined in 2011 by then-nine-year-old environmentalist Milo Cress based on data gleaned from straw manufacturers. While the accuracy of that statistic was subject to debate, it was widely repeated and served to emphasize the sheer number of single-use plastic straws that might find their way into landfills or the ocean. The issue drew further attention in 2015 after a video showing a sea turtle with a straw stuck in its nose spread across the internet.

Plastic Straws Today

Efforts to reduce or eliminate the use of plastic straws came to the forefront in 2017 and 2018 as Seattle, San Francisco, and other major cities, along with corporations such as Starbucks Coffee and American Airlines, sought to decrease plastic consumption by banning or otherwise limiting the use of single-use plastic straws. Approaches to addressing the issue varied widely between locations and companies. In some cases, businesses sought to introduce alternative disposable straws made of biodegradable materials such as paper, while others promoted the use of reusable straws made of metal, silicone, wood, or glass. In September 2018, California became the first state to pass statewide legislation concerning plastic straws with Assembly Bill No. 1884, which prohibited full-service restaurants from providing plastic straws to customers automatically, which had been customary at many restaurants. Rather, the law stipulated that customers could instead request straws if desired.

As attempts to eliminate single-use plastic straws progressed, a debate arose regarding whether banning plastic straws would be helpful, effective, and appropriate. Some opponents of the effort expressed skepticism about large companies’ motives in making such changes, while others viewed plastic straw bans as part of an ongoing cultural battle between American liberals and conservatives. The most substantial debate, however, arose between environmentalists and advocates for people with disabilities. While the former asserted that plastic straws were harmful to the environment and to all organisms living in it, disability activists and advocacy groups argued that plastic straws were necessary adaptive devices for many individuals with disabilities and must not be eliminated. The intense debate highlighted the complex nature of balancing environmental activism with the needs and rights of members of marginalized communities.

These essays and any opinions, information, or representations contained therein are the creation of the particular author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of EBSCO Information Services.

About the Author

Joy Crelin is a freelance writer and editor based in Wethersfield, Connecticut. She holds a bachelor of fine arts degree in writing, literature, and publishing from Emerson College.

Bibliography

Brueck, Hilary. “The Real Reason So Many Cities and Businesses Are Banning Plastic Straws Has Nothing to Do with Straws at All.” Business Insider, 22 Oct. 2018, www.businessinsider.com/plastic-straw-ban-why-are-there-so-many-2018-7. Accessed 26 Oct. 2018.

Chokshi, Niraj. “How a 9-Year-Old Boy’s Statistic Shaped a Debate on Straws.” The New York Times, 19 July 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/07/19/business/plastic-straws-ban-fact-check-nyt.html. Accessed 26 Oct. 2018.

Gibbens, Sarah. “A Brief History of How Plastic Straws Took Over the World.” National Geographic, 6 July 2018, www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2018/07/news-plastic-drinking-straw-history-ban. Accessed 26 Oct. 2018.

“Global Efforts to End Plastic Pollution: Single-Use Plastics.” Earth Day Network, 2018, www.earthday.org/plasticban. Accessed 26 Oct. 2018.

Jambeck, Jenna R., et al. “Plastic Waste Inputs from Land into the Ocean.” Science, vol. 347, no. 623, 2015, pp. 768–71, doi:10.1126/science.1260352. Accessed 30 Oct. 2018.

O’Neil, Luke. “How Plastic Straws Became the Latest Battleground in the US Culture Wars.” The Guardian, 3 Aug. 2018, www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/aug/03/plastic-straws-became-the-latest-victim-in-the-us-culture-wars. Accessed 26 Oct. 2018.

Parker, Laura. “We Made Plastic. We Depend on It. Now We’re Drowning in It.” National Geographic, June 2018, www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/06/plastic-planet-waste-pollution-trash-crisis. Accessed 26 Oct. 2018.

Parker, Laura. “A Whopping 91% of Plastic Isn’t Recycled.” National Geographic, 19 July 2017, news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/07/plastic-produced-recycling-waste-ocean-trash-debris-environment. Accessed 26 Oct. 2018.

Picheta, Rob. “Microplastics Found in Human Stools, Research Finds.” CNN, 23 Oct. 2018, www.cnn.com/2018/10/23/health/microplastics-human-stool-pollution-intl/index.html. Accessed 26 Oct. 2018.

“Plastics: Material-Specific Data.” EPA, 19 July 2018, www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/plastics-material-specific-data. Accessed 26 Oct. 2018.