As compostable straws become more popular, a recycling expert says they need to be disposed of properly for the effort not to go to waste.
Some local restaurants have decided to ban or reduce the use of plastic straws while the city studies the possibility to do the same.
“It’s kind of ridiculous how many straws you’re going through when you throw them out with everything,” Blowers and Grafton owner Josh Robinson told CTV News. “Most people don’t even care that they’re not there anymore.”
Robinson recently decided to replace plastic straws with green-friendly paper ones in his Edmonton and Calgary locations. They still have paper straws, but only give them out if a customer asks.
Demand for paper straws has grown. Phillip Jacobsen, the owner of Greenmunch, tells CTV News he’s getting 10 to 30 emails every day from all around the world with requests for alternatives to single-use plastics.
“Probably about April the requests for people looking for alternatives to plastic straws just sort of went exponential,” Jacobsen said.
But the fight against plastic straws doesn’t end there. Courtney Powell, the founder of Elevated Enviro, a company “focused on growing waste diversion from land fills for healthier communities," says paper straws serve a purpose only if they are disposed of the right way.
“Currently in Edmonton in most cases, in most restaurants and property sites, there’s no compost bin,” Powell told CTV News. “So the plant-based products, whether it’s straws lids, cups or takeaway containers, need to go to compost bins. Otherwise, they go to a landfill and the impact is the same as a plastic straw going to a landfill.”
Powell says businesses and property managers decide which bins they use, and it’s up to them – not the city – to have compost bins on site.
“If restaurants and property development groups wanted to make a change they could do so tomorrow.”
With files from Nicole Weisberg
