Feeling resistant to paper straws? Although plastic reduction is spreading, chains that have stopped offering “hard to drink” and “smells”: J-CAST News[Full text]

McDonald’s Japan (Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, hereinafter referred to as McDonald’s) has started offering “paper straws” to stores nationwide from October 7, 2022 as an environmental measure.

Paper straws are being introduced one after another at major chains, but there are quite a few protests on social media. Some chains introduced paper straws, but stopped using them due to complaints that they were difficult to drink from.


  • Consumers who are not good at popular “paper straws” (image is an image)

  • Mister Donut stopped offering paper straws

    Mister Donut stopped offering paper straws

  • Consumers who are not good at popular
  • Mister Donut stopped offering paper straws

Paper straw market forecast to grow

McDonald’s has replaced plastic straws with paper straws at some stores in the Yokohama area from February 2022. From October 7th, the target will be expanded to stores nationwide, and the introduction will be promoted sequentially. Cutlery such as spoons and forks will also be replaced with wooden cutlery, realizing a reduction of about 900 tons of plastic annually. The company has set a goal of “changing all customer-provided packaging to renewable, recycled, or certified materials by the end of 2025,” and plans to further “plastic-free.”

In recent years, the burden on the environment due to the excessive use of plastics has become a problem, and in April this year, the “Act on Promotion of Resource Recycling Related to Plastics” was enacted. In line with this trend, one of the things that major chains have been promoting is the introduction of “paper straws.”

Starbucks Coffee Japan (Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo), a major cafe chain that began offering paper straws in January 2020, replaced the straws used in Frappuccino with paper straws in September 2021. Skylark HD (Musashino City, Tokyo), which develops “Gusto” and “Bamiyan”, gradually replaced conventional biomass straws with paper straws from January 2010. Major retailers in the Aeon Group have also been gradually replacing the plastic straws that were distributed free of charge at stores with paper straws from April.

The spread of paper straws is a global trend, and according to a report by MarketsandMarkets, an American research firm, the global market for paper straws is estimated to grow from an estimated $585 million in 2019 to $1,687 million in 2024. It is expected to reach $1 million.

There are also voices of repulsion on SNS

On the other hand, there are quite a few Japanese consumers who are “not good at” paper straws. In an internet survey on paper straws conducted by Neo Marketing (Shibuya-ku, Tokyo) in December 2019, 64 people answered “no change” when asked about “ease of drinking” compared to plastic straws. %, but “difficult to drink” (24%) exceeded “easy to drink” (12%).

When McDonald’s announced the nationwide introduction of paper straws on October 4, 2010, they tweeted, “Paper straws alone are really impossible,” “I’m sorry,” “It’s just a nightmare,” and “Please, only straws.” I’m begging you, I’m begging you, so please make it plastic!” Concerns such as “It tastes like paper” and “It’s soggy” were raised one after another.

In a news release announcing the introduction of paper straws, McDonald’s explained with an annotation that “Due to the characteristics of paper straws, they may break or bend if used for a long time or if the drink is stirred.” there is

Some chains once introduced paper straws but stopped offering them. Duskin (Suita City, Osaka Prefecture)’s donut chain “Mr. Donut” stopped providing plastic straws for iced drinks from April 2020 to protect the global environment. We have changed the method of handing paper straws to customers who need straws.

However, from February 2009, the company stopped providing paper straws and changed to plastic straws made from biomass materials. Regarding the reason for the change, a Duskin spokesperson explained in an interview with J-CAST News on October 6th.

“The reason for the switch was that we received many comments from customers such as ‘it’s hard for children to drink’, ‘I’m worried about the smell’, and ‘it’s hard to drink after a while’.”

After switching to biomass straws, consumers no longer complained about the comfort of drinking. Since April 2010, it has been promoting environmental measures in its own way, such as raising the biomass ratio of straws from 10% to 25%.

To what extent will consumers accept the “reliance on paper” by major chains?

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