Oakman Inns boss’s plea to ban straws
Plastic straws, which can take between 100 and 1,000 years to decompose, are threatening sea creatures and other wildlife and litter the oceans and shores of the world.
The Morning Advertiser has teamed up with trade bodies the British Institute of Innkeeping, the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers and the British Beer & Pub Association to urge pubs and the wider hospitality sector to stop using straws and stirrers, and to reduce plastic packaging waste and recycle more.
Plastic straw alternatives
Oakman Inns took action last year to cut plastic straw use and uses paper or plant-based products that are compostable.
Alternatives to plastic straws include biodegradable ‘plastic’ or polylactic acid, metal, straw straws, bamboo, glass, paper or just going naked.
Borg-Neal told delegates at The Morning Advertiser’s MA500 crowd in Cambridge yesterday (9 February) that: “There is a huge problem with plastic as a waste material. Straws do not break down."
Huge problem
He added: “They are made from a material that will last forever, for a product that only lasts for a few minutes."
“It is a huge problem to marine wildlife, animals are being found with plastic inside them causing them to die and it is now entering the food chain.”
“Only 14% of plastic is being recycled, therefore 86% is being dumped, put into landfill or thrown away. Oakman Inns has always been keen to be responsible and have progressive policies around sustainability.”
