The type of straw a business chooses can have a significant impact on its environmental footprint. Plastic straws are made from petroleum-based materials, are not biodegradable, and often end up polluting waterways and harming marine life. They can take hundreds of years to break down.
Paper straws offer an improvement—they are biodegradable and compostable in most settings. However, they can sometimes lose durability when used with hot or cold beverages and often require a special lining to improve performance.
PLA (polylactic acid) straws are made from renewable plant-based sources like corn starch. While they look and feel like plastic, they are industrially compostable. That said, PLA requires specific composting conditions to break down properly and is not always accepted in curbside recycling or composting programs.
Choosing the right straw depends on your local regulations, customer expectations, and commitment to sustainability.
