“Back to plastic:” Trump’s straw policy reveal reignites paper alternatives debate

US President Donald Trump has announced his support for a return to plastic drinking straws, claiming that paper alternatives do not work and are more harmful to human health. Reactions to the plans are torn, with some welcoming a return to plastic and the economic effects it might bring, while others warn of the environmental and health dangers frequently associated with single-use plastic pollution.

Trump plans to reverse former President Joe Biden’s plan to phase out plastic straws across the US.

In a Truth Social post on Friday, the US president said that he will sign an executive order this week, “ending the ridiculous Biden push for Paper Straws, which don’t work. Back to plastic!” The US president added in a separate post that Biden’s “mandate” for paper straws is now dead: “Enjoy your next drink without a straw that disgustingly dissolves in your mouth!!!”

Ross Eisenberg, president of America’s Plastic Makers, which is composed of the American Chemistry Council’s Plastics Division and its member companies, says that the group appreciates Trump’s recognition of plastics’ utility in everyday life. 

“Beyond straws, plastics are essential to nearly every sector of our economy, supporting manufacturing, innovation, and directly employing nearly 700,000 Americans,” he tells Packaging Insights.

Eisenberg sees “significant potential” to create more jobs that tap into US innovation by scaling up solutions that capture and remake “significantly more of the plastics that currently end up in a landfill.”

Plastic advocates argue that paper-based straws lead to more GHG and fossil fuel usage than plastic alternatives.“We look forward to working with the administration on policies that foster innovations in plastics while growing US manufacturing jobs.”

Plastic or paper?

Trump’s planned policy change would challenge the Biden administration’s agenda to phase out all single-use plastics across the federal government by 2035. The White House said it was the first time it was “formally acknowledging the severity of the plastic pollution crisis and the scale of the response that will be required to effectively confront it.”

However, Chris DeArmitt, founder at the Plastics Research Council, says that paper causes more environmental harm than plastic when it comes to grocery bags, straws, and mailer envelopes.

“Independent, peer-reviewed LCA studies find that plastic alternatives increase impact in over 90% of applications where plastic is commonly used,” he tells us.

“Replacing it means four times more waste, more litter, three times more GHG, and twice as much fossil fuel used. Regarding the environment, Mother Nature does not care about our political party, or our personal preferences. Remember, the idea of single-use comes down to us. If you must take a straw, then take the one with least impact and reuse it 50 or 100 times because the impact becomes less and less with every reuse.”

Chris Kozak, senior manager for public affairs at Amcor Rigid Packaging, said on LinkedIn that a return to plastic is a “science-based common sense decision that allows everyone to choose the best option for the planet.”

Health risks

Meanwhile, environmental groups have voiced despair over Trump’s planned return to plastic.

Captain Kieran Kerry, CEO at Ocean Integrity Group posted on LinkedIn: “The dangers of plastic are real and alarming! From feminization caused by toxins in plastics to microplastics linked to heart attacks, strokes, and cancers, the evidence is overwhelming.”

Researchers have also expressed their concerns about human exposure to plastic, particularly microplastics, and their potential correlation with severe illnesses such as dementia, gut inflammation, fertility issues, and cardiac diseases.

But DeArmitt says there is “no scientific evidence connecting the use of plastic or paper straws to health effects.” 

“Using paper straws may increase exposure to chemicals (including PFAS) but those are not shown to be a health risk.”