500 Million Each Day

February 20, 2018

February 20, 2018


The only time I use a straw is on summer days, when I’m sitting outside and enjoying a cool beverage in my lidded tumbler. It’s a metal straw and necessary for protecting my beverage from being spilled by Angus the dog’s dangerous wagging tail. I understand that children, the elderly, and ill people may have to use straws to aid in sipping liquids. For the rest of us, however, it’s way past time we consider “Just saying NO” to the unnecessary disposable plastic straw!


It is speculated that drinking straws were developed to serve as a sieve, filtering out solids from the liquids being consumed. Straws are also marketed for sanitary reasons, to reduce the risk of spreading germs from improperly washed glassware. However, like much of our waste, they have since become more of a cultural phenomenon.


According to Wikipedia, the Sumerians used straws for drinking beer, possibly to avoid the distasteful solid byproducts of fermentation that ended up at the bottom of the container. These and other early straws were made of metal. For centuries, Argentines have used metal straws for drinking mate tea. Rye grass straws were popular in the 1800s, despite their tendency to turn into mush in liquid and leaving a “grassy” taste. Again, according to Wikipedia, one Marvin C. Stone set about to address this shortcoming; in 1888, he patented the modern drinking straw, manufactured from paper.


Today, most drinking straws are made from polypropylene plastic. According to EcoCycle’s Be Straw Free Campaign, 500 million plastic straws (equal to nearly 3 million pounds!) are used and disposed in our country each day. This amounts to an average of 1.6 straws per capita per day. Due to their size (they are incompatible with recycling processing equipment) and lack of market demand for polypropylene from straws, they are not recyclable and often end up as litter. Plastic straws are one of the most common litter item found during beach clean-ups.


Straws are ubiquitous, but it seems that most people don’t even consider the impact of the “little” plastic tube. Order almost any cold to-go beverage and it will come with a straw. Sit down in a restaurant, and your water will almost always come with a straw already in the glass. Fortunately, there is growing awareness of the impact of straws and other disposable plastics on our waterways and oceans. We’ve all seen videos of plastic straws and similar items found in sea turtles and other marine animals.


A straws-on-request movement is slowly gaining ground in some parts of the country, most notably in California. The cities of Davis and San Luis Obispo have adopted ordinances requiring that restaurants, bars and cafes have patrons request single-use plastic straws for their drinks, instead of receiving them automatically. Plastic straws in self-service bins are still allowed in these “consumer’s choice” ordinances. Other California communities, including Encinitas, a San Diego County beach town, and Berkeley are also considering similar “straw-reduction” ordinances. Seattle recently announced that as of July, 2018, it will become the largest metropolitan city to ban the single-use plastic straw (compostable or recyclable options are okay). Ahead of the ban, restaurants and other businesses around the City are participating in the Strawless In Seattle campaign.


Of course, not everyone wants to see more ordinances. But if each of us takes it upon themselves to just say “no straw please” when we order cold liquids, this would help to reduce the number of discarded straws. Urging restaurants and other food service providers to adopt a “straws-on-request” policy is another easy tactic. This simple act can make a big difference without limiting those who still want a straw, and its sets a model for customers and other food service providers. Furthermore, those of us in the materials management field know that straws are a common contaminant in recycling and food waste diversion programs; thus, straw reduction policies can be marketed as a green policy undertaking.


Friday, February 24 is National Skip the Straw Day. Consider taking that first step to reduce your straw use. If you are already on the “skip the straw” path, please share this blog and the announcement about National Straw Day. For those who work with food service providers, add the “straws-on-request” policy to your outreach campaigns.


If you still want a straw, there are plenty of reusable alternatives on the market. Just like carrying your own refillable mug or tumbler, reusable straws present a practical compromise. Check out 5 eco-friendly alternatives to plastic straws for a great article about reusable alternatives, including bamboo, metal, glass, and silicone straws. There are also a growing number of paper and compostable straw food service ware providers.


By Athena Lee Bradley

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August 29, 2025
Northeast Recycling Council (NERC) Publishes 25 th Report Marking Six Years of Quarterly Data
By Recycled Materials Association July 29, 2025
The Northeast Recycling Council (NERC) has opened the 2025 Emerging Professionals (EP) Program . Now, in its third year, the program provides professionals who are new to the field of recycling, sustainability, and environmental stewardship with discounted access to NERC’s Conference and Foundations Course, sponsored by their employer organization. EPs gain valuable connections with seasoned industry professionals and peers while engaging in discussions on current trends, challenges, and innovations shaping the industry. This program is designed for those with three or fewer years of experience. “This year, EPs also receive a discount to our Foundations of Sustainable Materials Management course (a live, instructor-led training) developed to provide the key building blocks for understanding the industry,” said Mariane Medeiros, Senior Project Manager at NERC. “It’s a great way to close the loop: gaining both a strong technical foundation and real-world connections in one experience.” Read and Learn More.
By Chaz Miller June 30, 2025
Recycling coordinators know that some people and locations are stubbornly indifferent to recycling. COVID has ruptured civic values and behavior. Creating a recycling culture is harder than ever. Producers know how to sell their products. Now they need to learn how to sell recycling. On July 1, Oregon’s packaging and paper extended producer responsibility (EPR) program begins operating. This will be a first in our country. “Producers”, instead of local governments or private citizens, will be paying to recycle packages and paper products. Colorado’s program begins operating early in 2026. For years we have heard the theory of how packaging EPR will work. At last, we will get results. Five other states also have laws. Their programs should all be operating by 2030. None of the state laws have identical requirements. The Circular Action Alliance, the “producer responsibility organization” responsible for managing the program in most of those states, knows it has a lot on its plate. EPR laws are not new to the U.S. Thirty-two states already have laws that cover a wide variety of products such as electronics, paint, mattresses, batteries, etc. Those laws are relatively simple. Most cover one product. The producer group is a small number of companies. Goals and programs are focused and narrow. They are a mixed bag of success and failure. Packaging EPR is far more complex. The number of covered products is way higher. Thousands of companies are paying for these programs. Goals are challenging. Some are impossible to meet. In addition, local governments treat recycling as a normal service. Their residents will still call them if their recyclables aren’t picked up. It probably hasn’t helped that advocates tout EPR as the solution for recycling’s problems. We are told we will have more collection and better processing with higher recycling rates. Markets will improve and even stabilize. Some of this will happen, but not all. Collection and processing should go smoothly in Oregon. The state has high expectations for recycling. I have no doubt recycling will increase. Collection programs will blanket the state, giving more households the opportunity to recycle. I’m not sure, though, how much of an increase we will see. Recycling coordinators know that some people and locations are stubbornly indifferent to recycling. COVID has ruptured civic values and behavior. Creating a recycling culture is harder than ever. Producers know how to sell their products. Now they need to learn how to sell recycling. Another challenge is the “responsible end market” requirements. You’ve probably seen pictures of overseas dumps created by unscrupulous or just naïve plastics “recyclers”. In response, Oregon and the other states are requiring sellers and end markets to prove they are “responsible”. They must provide information about who and where they are, how they operate, how much was actually recycled, and more. Recycling end markets pushed back. Paper and metals recyclers argue they shouldn’t be covered. They don’t cause those problems. As for plastics, the general manager of one of America’s largest plastics recycling companies said his company now spends time and money gathering data and filling out forms to prove they’re “responsible”. His virgin resin competitors don’t have to. Ironically, we now import more plastics for recycling than we export. Maybe those countries should impose similar requirements on their plastics recyclers. Colorado faces unique problems. The mountain state is large. Its population is concentrated on the I-25 corridor running north and south through Denver with low population density elsewhere. Recycling collection and processing is limited as are end markets. To make matters worse, slightly more than half of its households use “subscription” services for waste and recycling collection. Those services are funded by the households, not by taxpayers. EPR doesn’t have this experience in other countries. Colorado gets to blaze this trail. The second state to go live poses substantive challenges for producers. The good news for both states? Local governments that pay for recycling collection and processing will see most of those costs go away. Consumers are unlikely to see prices rise, for now. National companies will simply spread their costs among all 50 states. Local and regional producers, unfortunately, don’t have that advantage. As for improved markets, remember that recyclables are and always will be commodities subject to the ups and downs of the economy. I don’t see substantive changes in recycling markets unless the producer group’s members try to manipulate markets to their own advantage. 2025 saw new laws and changes to existing laws. Maryland and Washington became the sixth and seventh packaging EPR states. At the same time, California is rewriting its regulations and Maine significantly revised its law. Some of these changes narrowed EPR’s scope to the dismay of advocates. I’m a member of Maryland’s EPR Advisory Council. We’ve been meeting for a year, discussing the Needs Assessment and now our new law. We have our own unique set of challenges. We also have a big advantage. We can learn from Oregon’s and Colorado’s experiences. Tune in next year to learn how we are progressing. Read on Waste360.