Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, February 26th, title: "On duty" has been frequently complained in the past two months. What's wrong with the paper straw?
Xinhua News Agency "Xinhua Viewpoint" reporters Wei Yijun, Dong Xue, Wang Chenyang
"Paper straws exit the milk tea world" "It's too soft, I almost quit milk tea"... The upgraded version of the "Plastic Restriction Order" stipulates that non-degradable disposable plastic straws are prohibited in the catering industry.
It has been nearly 2 months since the “ban order” was implemented on January 1. The main alternative products include degradable straws made of polylactic acid (PLA) and paper.
"Xinhua Viewpoint" reporter survey found that most catering stores prefer paper straws as an alternative, and only a few stores also offer polylactic acid (PLA) straws as an alternative.
The new "on-duty" paper straws have encountered various complaints. Many consumers have low appraisal of the experience of paper straws, and are skeptical of using paper straws instead of plastic straws to solve "white pollution".
Experts say that neither paper straws nor PLA straws are the "ultimate form" of environmental protection.
Paper straws are not ideal in taste, smell, temperature resistance and water resistance
“I threw away the paper straws as soon as I took a sip of milk tea, and it still smelled of strange paper even if I stuck my mouth.” Li Jia from Beijing said, “Now I just open the lid of the cup to drink milk tea.”
Since the paper straws were widely used as the first alternative to plastic straws, the spitting of paper straws has not stopped.
"Sticky mouth", "cannot bite", and "papery smell" are the most common, and they are also ridiculed as "pearl and taro ball nemesis".
Xiao Yang, a university student in Beijing, told reporters: "Drinking a cup of hot milk tea uses 3 paper straws, and it rots as soon as you make it!" Because the water is easy to soften or even break, many people are forced to drink a large cup of milk tea quickly. After that, "I completely lost the fun of drinking milk tea." said Xiao Zhang, a college student.
Ms. Wang, who lives in Shanghai, said that a restaurant has provided paper straws for customers who drink coconut milk, but often the joint between the straw and the coconut has been broken before the coconut juice is finished.
The reporter's investigation found that the current paper straws on the market dissatisfied consumers in terms of taste, smell, temperature resistance, and water resistance.
Another alternative that can be found in a few restaurants, polylactic acid (PLA) straws, is much more acceptable than paper straws.
"The PLA straw is not much different from the previous plastic straws. If you don't say it, you can hardly see the difference." Ms. Wang of Beijing City said.
However, some consumers said that some PLA straws will become soft after being soaked in hot drinks for a long time.
"Pure polylactic acid has a heat distortion temperature of about 60 degrees Celsius. It is no problem to drink cold and warm drinks, but hot drinks cannot be used. High temperature resistant polylactic acid composite materials need to be developed to improve the straw performance." Hefei University of Technology Said Yao Risheng, a professor at the School of Food and Biological Engineering.
Li Erqiao, general manager of Yiwu Shuangtong Commodity Co., Ltd., a straw manufacturer, said that the promotion of biodegradable straw products in European and American countries is not unrelated to the eating habits of drinking more cold drinks abroad.
Paper straws are currently the most cost-effective but not necessarily the most environmentally friendly choice
Interviewed catering operators said that paper straws are currently the most cost-effective choice.
Although PLA straws are closer to plastic straws in experience, they are more expensive.
At present, the cost of a paper straw is about 0.03 yuan, while the cost of a PLA straw is about 0.05 yuan.
Moreover, according to experts, the shelf life of paper straws is about two to three years, but PLA straws will begin to degrade after they are stored for about one year, which also affects the promotion of PLA straws to a certain extent.
"Degradable straws currently account for more than half of the company's total sales." Lou Zhongping, chairman of Yiwu Shuangtong Daily Necessities Co., Ltd. said, "Recently, there have been more domestic customers for consultation, but apart from milk tea shops, there are fewer other catering companies. The sales of biodegradable products have not yet seen the expected blowout."
During the interview, many people in the industry said that although paper straws are also biodegradable products, replacing plastic straws with them can indeed reduce plastic pollution, but with the current garbage disposal methods, paper straws are not the most environmentally friendly choice.
During the interview, the reporter found that because the paper straws were contaminated with beverages during use, they lost the value of secondary use. They cannot be treated as recyclable garbage like other paper products, but are generally treated as other garbage.
At present, the treatment methods of other garbage in various cities are landfill or incineration, and these two methods make the advantages of the degradable paper straws disappear.
In addition, many people in the industry believe that the environmental cost of the production of paper straws is not low-it not only consumes a lot of wood, but also causes water pollution during the production process.
Although it can be degraded in the end, it still consumes a lot of resources.
Many experts said that paper straws are not the best substitute for plastic straws, no matter in terms of production environment costs or recycling costs.
Optimizing the production and recycling of alternatives is imminent
According to the "Opinions on Further Strengthening the Treatment of Plastic Pollution" issued by the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, by the end of 2020, non-degradable disposable plastic straws will be banned nationwide in the catering industry.
Under the ban, the production and recycling of alternative products has become an urgent matter.
Due to the high cost and poor experience of biodegradable plastic straws, the implementation of the “ban order” has also partially fallen into a bottleneck.
The reporter's investigation found that some larger catering companies strictly abide by the regulations and replaced plastic straws, but more large-scale and wide-ranging small catering establishments are still "I do what I do," especially some small catering shops that are mainly engaged in take-out business. .
"I heard that the management of plastic straws has become stricter, but the specific regulations are not clear." said the person in charge of a fast food restaurant on Tianmushan Road in Hangzhou. "No one has notified that plastic straws will be used first, like other stores, until the inspection becomes stricter. Say it again."
According to the reporter's understanding, the main function of supervision over the prohibition of plastic straws in restaurants in various places lies in the market supervision department, but an interviewee of the market supervision department said frankly that there are large numbers of small restaurants, and effective supervision is not small.
"Some catering companies are in fact still on the sidelines." Li Erqiao said, "There are even customers who have changed their orders for biodegradable products back to orders for plastic straws."
Some industry insiders said that the purpose of the "plastic restriction order" and the "ban order" is to reduce plastic pollution. At present, more catering companies must first implement the ban on plastic straws.
Li Daoji, director of the Ocean Plastics Research Center of East China Normal University, suggested that at this stage, the most important thing is to do a good job in the classification, recycling and disposal of paper straws and PLA straws to reduce the impact on the environment.
Lou Zhongping, who has been in the straw industry for more than 20 years, said that neither paper straws nor PLA straws are the "ultimate form" of environmental protection.
A noteworthy phenomenon is that the reporter found that more and more people abandon straws.
"I don't need straws anymore when buying drinks out. I use the lids of drinking cups or drink them directly, which has made a major contribution to environmental protection." Ms. Li from Beijing said with a smile.
"Plastic bans and restrictions on plastics have never been achieved overnight. We need to continue efforts from policy propaganda and guidance, law enforcement and supervision, etc., so as to gradually allow the whole society to form a green lifestyle that does not use or minimize the use of disposable plastic products." Zhejiang University Public Said Fan Bonai, deputy dean of the Policy Research Institute.