McDonald’s says that the paper straws that many UK customers hate can’t actually be recycled (businessinsider.com)

Last year, McDonald’s made headlines after it announced that it would be pulling plastic straws from all of its UK locations and replacing them with paper straws.

The decision was praised by politicians and environmentalists. Then-environment secretary Michael Gove said it marked a “significant contribution” to helping the environment and that McDonald’s was setting “a fine example to other large businesses.”

But it turns out these straws are not actually so eco-friendly. In fact, unlike their plastic equivalents, they are completely unrecyclable.

“While the materials are recyclable, their current thickness makes it difficult for them to be processed by our waste solution providers, who also help us recycle our paper cups,” a McDonald’s spokesman told the UK’s Press Association news agency.

In a statement emailed to Business Insider, a spokesperson said this was “a wider industry issue, as the infrastructure needed to recycle has not kept pace with the emergence of paper straws.”

more at source: https://www.businessinsider.com/mcdonalds-says-its-paper-straws-cant-be-recycled-2019-8