South Korean government study finds 'eco-friendly' paper straws do MORE environmental damage than plastic over their lifetime
Paper straws, which a new study finds are worse for the environment than their plastic equivalents.
South Korea's Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment evaluated four straw types across 16 environmental categories and found that conventional plastic had the smallest footprint in 10 of them. Compared with plastic, paper straws generated 6.33 times the carcinogenic harm — assessed across manufacture, use and disposal — and twice the acidification damage. South Korean lawmaker Kim Wi-sang called the results evidence of 'greenwashing policy failure'.
Bio-based sugarcane straws performed worst overall, with carcinogenic impact running at 16 times that of plastic and acidification damage six times as high.
Paper straws are effectively unrecyclable: their small dimensions allow them to fall through sorting machinery, while water-resistant coatings prevent clean breakdown.
President Trump reversed the Biden administration's campaign to promote paper straws last year, a decision the study's conclusions appear to support.
