Authored by Bryan Hyde via American Greatness,
A South Korean government study has found that paper straws carry a significantly heavier environmental and manufacturing toll than traditional plastic ones.
The Daily Wire reports that a team of researchers from South Korea recently tested four different types of straws, including paper, plastic, biodegradable plastic, and sugarcane-based (bio-based polyethylene), across 16 categories.
Conventional plastic straws surprisingly outperformed the alternatives, achieving the lowest environmental impact in 10 out of 16 categories, including climate change indicators and greenhouse gas emissions.
The findings challenge the widespread assumption that swapping single-use plastics for paper automatically benefits the planet.
According to the study by the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment, paper straws scored more than six times higher than their plastic rival on the study's measure of carcinogenic impact.
The study also found paper straws have more than two times the impact on environmental acidity, meaning they might be contributing to pollution by making soil and water more acidic, potentially harming plants, animals, and ecosystems.
Conventional plastic straws unexpectedly outperformed the alternatives, achieving the lowest environmental impact in 10 out of 16 categories, including climate change indicators and greenhouse gas emissions.
Despite being made of paper, single-use paper straws are not recyclable as their small size allows them to fall through sorting machinery.
Researchers reported that paper straws are also frequently contaminated with liquid, chemical adhesives, and synthetic coatings used to prevent them from becoming immediately soggy, according to The Daily Wire.
Sugarcane-based straws received the worst results, with 16.18 times the human carcinogenic impact, 5.9 times the acidification impact, and had the largest impact in 10 of the categories.
Researchers said that after interviewing over 1,000 people, 87.5 percent of them preferred plastic straws, and roughly 54 percent said they supported straws only when asked for them.
Rather than continuing to mandate ineffective substitute materials, South Korean policymakers and researchers recommend governments shift toward substantive reduction policies.
Their ultimate suggestion is to skip single-use straws entirely or implement "ask-only" policies at businesses, nudging consumers toward reusable options like stainless steel or glass.