Study Suggests Paper Straws May Not Be Greener Than Plastic

If you've spent years watching a paper straw slowly dissolve into your iced coffee and thought, “There HAS to be a better way,” science may finally have some sympathy for you.

A study out of South Korea suggests paper straws aren't necessarily better for the environment than traditional plastic straws when researchers consider their entire life cycle, from manufacturing to disposal.

Researchers examined four types of straws: paper, conventional plastic, biodegradable plastic, and sugarcane-based straws, comparing them across 16 different environmental categories.

And the results weren't exactly the victory lap paper straws were hoping for.

Traditional plastic straws had the lowest environmental impact in 10 of the 16 categories examined, including measures related to climate change, particulate matter and human toxicity.

Paper straws performed worse in several areas because manufacturing them can require additional materials, chemicals and energy.

The study also found paper straws had a higher impact in categories involving environmental acidification and certain potentially harmful emissions.

But Aren't Paper Straws Recyclable?

That's another complication.

In theory, paper sounds much easier to recycle than plastic. But straws are so small that they can be difficult for recycling facilities to properly sort and process.

Paper straws may also contain water-resistant coatings and adhesives, which can make recycling and breaking them down more complicated than simply tossing an ordinary piece of paper into the blue bin.

That doesn't mean plastic straws are suddenly environmentally harmless.

Plastic waste can remain in the environment for years, and the study looked at a specific set of environmental measurements. Different materials can have different advantages and disadvantages depending on how they're manufactured, transported and eventually disposed of.

The bigger takeaway may be that single-use products are still single-use products, regardless of whether they're made from paper or plastic.

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Reusable stainless steel, glass or silicone straws can be another option, particularly if they're used repeatedly rather than constantly replaced.

Or there's the simplest solution of all. Drink directly from the cup.

No paper.

No plastic.

No stainless steel.

And most importantly, no paper straw collapsing halfway through your iced coffee and turning into a wet toilet-paper tube.