President Donald Trump issued an executive order Monday declaring that it is “the policy of the United States to end the use of paper straws.”
Former President Joe Biden’s administration, in an attempt to phase out federal purchases of single-use plastics, announced a plan in July 2024 to replace plastics with reusable, compostable and highly recyclable products.
Trump’s order Monday stated that paper straws “are nonfunctional, use chemicals that may carry risks to human health, are more expensive to produce than plastic straws, and often force users to use multiple straws.”
He also noted that paper straws are often individually wrapped in plastic, which undermines the environmental argument for their use.
“It’s a ridiculous situation. We’re going back to plastic straws,” Trump said Monday as he signed the order.
The Biden policy aimed to get plastic straws and other single-use plastics out of federal food service operations, events and packaging by 2027, and from all federal operations by 2035.
Trump declared President Joe Biden’s policy “DEAD!” in a social media post over the weekend.
In his Monday order, he instructed agency officials to stop buying paper straws and make sure paper straws are no longer provided within agency buildings.
He also directed officials to create a national strategy to end the use of paper straws within 45 days.
Source: VOAnews