China’s plastic restriction order, paper straws replaced plastic straws

In recent years, with the rapid development of takeaway and online shopping, non-degradable plastic products such as plastic packing boxes, plastic express bags, plastic tapes, shock-proof and shatter-proof plastic fillers have been widely used. With the advancement of the "plastic restriction order", this situation is gradually improving. According to statistics, as of the end of October, China's cumulative output of plastic products this year was 60.757 million tons, down 6.2% from the same period last year.

Yesterday, news reporters in Shinan District, Licang District and many other take-out restaurants saw that most of the lunch boxes are biodegradable and environmentally friendly lunch boxes. Some businesses that deliver drinks no longer give away plastic straws, but use paper. Instead of drinking straws or let consumers drink directly.
On the take-out platform, many catering stores have added the options of "not using plastic straws" and "replace plastic straws with paper straws" to encourage consumers to reduce the use of plastic straws. In addition, some stores have printed the label "Reduce the use of straws to be more environmentally friendly" on the outer packaging of plastic straws, and put paper straws on the service counter.
Regarding the use of plastic straws, McDonald’s announced on June 30 this year that from now on, nearly a thousand restaurants in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen will take the lead in discontinuing plastic straws. Plastic reduction measures will cover mainland China within this year. Recently, in a McDonald's store in Qingdao, Guanhai News reporters saw that all drinks use cup lids with spouts. The waiter told reporters, "The use of plastic straws is not recommended, and we will not provide them if customers do not require them."
In terms of reducing plastic products, Starbucks also stopped using plastic straws as early as 2018, and began to use more easily degradable starch straws and paper straws. Starbucks has stated that global stores will eliminate disposable plastic straws by 2020. At present, many Starbucks stores and takeaways in Qingdao have used paper straws. In addition, Pizza Hut recently announced that it will stop providing plastic straws in all restaurants across the country at the end of this year, instead using paper straws.