Trump brings back plastic straws – because he claims paper ones ‘explode’

Trump condemned the ‘ridiculous situation’ created by the Biden administration in its attempt to phase out single-use plastic from federal operations

Donald Trump has signed an executive order to bring back plastic straws because their paper counterparts “explode.”

“It’s a ridiculous situation. We’re going back to plastic straws,” Trump told reporters while signing the order in the White House on Monday. “These things don’t work. I’ve had them many times, and on occasion, they break, they explode.”

Downplaying the potential environmental cost of his order, the president added: “I don't think plastic is going to affect a shark much as they’re munching their way through the ocean.”

Will Scharf, the White House staff secretary who presented the executive order to Trump, said the war on single-use plastic straws has cost the public and private industry “an absolute ton of money and left consumers all over the country wildly dissatisfied with their straws.”

The president’s back-to-plastic mandate looks to roll back a Biden administration policy announced in July to phase out federal procurement of single-use plastics from food service operations, events, and packaging by 2027, and from all federal operations by 2035.

Trump signs more executive orders in his Oval Office on February 10, including an order bringing back single-use plastic straws (EPA)

At the time, the White House said that single-use plastic was “contributing to loss of biodiversity, and exacerbating the impacts of climate change.”

Federal agencies have now been directed to review procurement processes for the reuptake of plastic straws.

On Friday, Trump said he would sign an executive order “ending the ridiculous Biden push for paper straws, which don’t work.”

“BACK TO PLASTIC!” he posted on his social media platform Truth Social.

The president, who has a penchant for Diet Coke and McDonald’s, with the fast food industry increasingly moving away from single-use plastic, has long rallied against paper straws.

During his 2019 re-election campaign, the then-GOP candidate sold Trump-branded reusable plastic straws for $15 per pack.

“Liberal paper straws don’t work,” read his campaign website, which flogged his merch.

Nearly 100 percent of all plastics are made from fossil fuels.

Not only do they harm the Earth’s oceans, waterways, and ecosystems, breaking down into microplastics and choking wildlife, but their production contributes to climate change.

Globally, there are 400 million tons of plastic waste every year, according to a report from the UN Environment Program.

Plastic production doubled in the two decades since 2000 and is expected to quadruple again by 2050. Less than 10 percent of the billions of plastic generated globally has been recycled, the report states.

The manufacture of plastics emits 184 to 213 million metric tons of greenhouse gases each year, according to the University of Colorado Boulder’s Environmental Center.

A worrying analysis from the group Beyond Plastics found that the US plastics industry will be a bigger contributor to climate change than coal-fired power in the nation by 2030.

A switch to paper straws has come with some valid criticism regarding their effectiveness.

One 2019 study found that they lose 90 percent of their compressive strength after being in contact with the liquid for less than half an hour.

A study in 2023 found they have health risks: namely, polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) known as “forever chemicals”.

Meanwhile, straws made from Poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA) – a synthetic, biodegradable polymer – lose almost 60 percent of their flexural strength when wet.

Metal and glass straws aren’t much better for the environment, but hold up longer than plastic.