President Donald Trump said he will sign an executive order to end the push for paper straws, long a target of his criticism.
The Republican made the announcement Friday via social media saying, “I will be signing an Executive Order next week ending the ridiculous Biden push for Paper Straws, which don’t work. BACK TO PLASTIC!”
Trump did not offer any additional details about what the executive order will entail. However, it appears to be aimed at the Biden administration’s promises to phase out the use of single-use plastic cutlery within federal departments.
In July 2024, then-President Joe Biden announced a goal of ending the use of single-use plastics in all food service operations, events, and packaging by 2027 and all federal operations by 2035. It would affect plastic straws, bottles, cups, cutlery, disposable bags, and food and beverage containers.
The Biden administration, through the Interior Department, also began a 10-year phase-out of single-use plastic products on public lands in 2022 in an effort to reduce pollution in national parks.
However, public adoption of paper straws came well before the Biden administration. Recent concern and outrage about the environmental impact of plastic straws, such as pollution, can often be traced back to a video that went viral in 2015 showing a Sea Turtle with a straw stuck up its nose.
By mid-2018, halfway through Trump’s first administration, a number of major corporations, including Starbucks, Disney, American Airlines, and Hyatt, made promises to do away with plastic straws. Some cities, such as Malibu, California; St. Petersburg, Florida; and Seattle have had plastic straw bans in place for at least six years. In 2019, California also became the first state to install restrictions on the use of plastic straws in restaurants.
Trump first launched his campaign against the push for paper straws in 2019 during his 2020 reelection bid. At the time, Trump and his team launched a new product called “Official Trump Straws.”
“Liberal paper straws don’t work,” the campaign merchandise website read at the time. “STAND WITH PRESIDENT TRUMP and buy your pack of recyclable straws today.”
With packs of 10 straws selling for $15 each, the campaign reportedly brought in around $460,000 from selling the straws, according to the Guardian.
Despite the eco-friendly label, there have long been doubts as to whether paper or bioplastic straws are really better for the environment. A 2023 study completed by researchers in Belgium found that while “forever chemicals” and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS, could be found in most straws, they were more frequently observed in those made of plant and bamboo.
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Some experts have also argued that many biodegradable straws, often made of polylactic acid, can only be processed in certain composting facilities, causing many to wind up in landfills. Alternatively, paper and biodegradable straws have been found to decompose much faster than plastic straws, which have been found to take up to 300 years to break down.
As a result, environmentalists and advocates against plastic straws recommend using reusable alternatives made of metal and glass to avoid constant waste altogether.