Wetherspoon confirms the end of plastic straws

Wetherspoon will stop using plastic straws across its 900 pubs in the UK and Republic of Ireland by the end of this year, the pub chain has confirmed.

Drinking straws

Plastic straws, like all plastic items, are incredibly damaging to the environment with a single straw taking 500 years to decompose.

In addition, with immediate effect, straws will no longer be automatically added to drinks, although they remain available if requested.

From January 2018, all of the company’s pubs will use biodegradable paper straws.

“These changes are part of an overall commitment from the company to reduce the amount of non-recyclable waste produced,” said Wetherspoon chief executive John Hutson.

“We believe that Wetherspoon pub-goers will welcome this.”

Earlier this year, UK pub chain All Bar One took the lead on eliminating plastic straws from pubs and bars in the UK, pledging to phase out their use at its bars as part of its #strawssuck campaign.

The chain used to serve plastic straws in 25% of its drinks, the equivalent of 13,000 a day across all its its venues, or 4.7 million a year.

However from 14 June, All Bar One said it would be phasing out its use of plastic straws completely, replacing them where necessary with eco-friendly alternatives.