Safety first: 360° Foodservice establishes EU paper straw charter amid “unfair and fraudulent” competition

13 Apr 2021 --- To support a coherent and correct transition from plastic to paper straws this summer, European industry body 360° Foodservice is launching a quality initiative called the Charter of Trust for Paper Drinking Straws.

According to 360° Foodservice, paper straws circulating on the EU market do not always comply with European legislation aimed at protecting consumers. 

Meanwhile, small- and middle-sized distributors and retailers do not always have the capacity to make informed decisions about the quality of the paper drinking straws they buy, the organization points out.

The initiative therefore brings 15 companies together to ensure compliant, safe paper drinking straws are marketed across Europe.

Speaking with PackagingInsights, Arnaud Dufour, quality program manager at 360° Foodservice, explains why paper straw providers still struggle to put safety first and outlines other compliance obstacles.

Manufacturers should know better
Anti-plastic sentiment is driving the popularity of paper drinking straws as replacements for their plastic counterparts, which will be banned in the EU under the Single-Use Plastic Directive from July.

Technically, there is “no excuse” for manufacturers to not abide by EU and national laws, says Dufour. The legislation stipulates specific safety criteria not only for paper, but also printing inks, adhesives and special machinery for paper manufacturing.

The Charter of Trust aims to inform the marketplace and help it make safe, sustainable choices. “The law is there. It must be respected. If manufacturers do not follow the requirements, the products are not safe and are illegal,” says Dufour. 

“That said, if any manufacturer was not taking due care, the Charter of Trust now makes the requirements very clear.”

However, some distributors and users are not as closely involved with paper straw manufacturing and its legislative requirements. “They may not be aware that these rules exist,” Dufour explains. 

These outside buyers “unfortunately” look at the price first, he notes. Lower prices may be financially attractive, but are often indicators that corners have been cut and rules ignored. 

Why the higher costs?
More expensive products are often higher priced because the safety guarantees involved with the materials and processes to prepare a compliant paper straw are more expensive. 

The Charter of Trust’s 15 member companies commit to make or supply only compliant, safe paper drinking straws. “If their straws cost a bit more than other competing products, this quality and safety guarantee may be part of the explanation,” Dufour explains.

The initiative currently counts MatrixPack, Soyez Frères, Tembo, The Paper Straw Company and Transcend Packaging as paper straw makers and Paardekooper Group as a distributor within its ranks.

Paper straw production involves not only paper, but also inks, adhesives and speciality machinery.The suppliers include: 

• Inks: Colorcon
• Adhesives: Eukalin, HB Fuller, Henkel Adhesive Technologies
• Paper: Clariana/Miguel y Costas, Delfort, Drewsen 
• Specialist machinery: Eberlé, Hauni, Tembo Paper

In Henkel’s own words
Straw providers and their trusted suppliers, like Henkel, place safety first, Christin Noack, market strategy manager Europe for Paper Solutions at Henkel Adhesive Technologies, tells PackagingInsights.

“But since safety and regulatory policies vary across regions, the creation of a focused EU standard is a giant step toward standardization, signaling to customers worldwide what a safe paper straw should look like and comply to.”

Henkel states it has already implemented these standards globally as it strongly believes in its environmental responsibility and the need for public safety. 

Checks and balances
According to 360° Foodservice, national competent authorities for customs and market surveillance often lack the knowledge and resources to check the imports and products compliance. The Charter of Trust intends to fill that information gap.

“Customs services and market surveillance, trading standards and health and safety authorities must all play a role in policing borders to ensure that non-compliant products ideally do not get onto the market in the first place,” flags Dufour.

“But if they do, then they must be discovered through checks and audits and removed rapidly from the market once discovered.”

Poor quality imported paper straws get soggy quickly or impair the taste of drinks, resulting in bad consumer experiences.Convenience and eco-considerations
Another central hurdle to incentivizing safe and compliant paper straws is gaining consumer acceptance for these solutions as alternatives to plastic. 

“Some consumers have had a bad experience with poor quality imported paper straws that get soggy or impair the taste of their drinks,” says Dufour.

“A big challenge is to win those people over, to present these safe, high performing new European-made products and convince them that good quality does exist.”

“Once consumers see how good the new high quality paper straws really are – how attractive they look and how agreeable they are to use – we are sure they will be widely taken up,” he maintains.

Another challenge is to explain recyclability and compostability: Dufour adds high quality paper drinking straws can be home-composted and put in the paper recycling stream.

Standing out from the competition
360° Foodservice indicates it will soon unveil an internationally registered Trustmark to help foodservice businesses identify products supplied by companies that fully comply with the law. 

It will be backed by business-to-business communication campaigns and information programs to national regulators, market surveillance services and control authorities, as well as to relevant EU bodies.

The EU Parliament supports the Charter of Trust’s ambitions. “I want to congratulate 360° Foodservice for creating the Charter of Trust for Paper Drinking Straws,” MEP Anna-Michelle Asimakopoulou, vice-chair of the EP’s International Trade Committee, commented during an event to launch the initiative.

“This shows initiative, dedication to high quality and, above all, respect for the European consumer. We need all of these things in Europe today.”

By Anni Schleicher