Ireland’s largest fast-food chain, Supermac’s, is the latest company to make positive steps in the war on plastic.
The Galway-based retailer is jumping on the eco-bandwagon and replacing plastic straws with paper alternatives across 116 branches.
In 2018, Supermac’s introduced recyclable coffee cups and biodegradable burger packaging under their ‘Glan agus Glas’ [‘Clean and Green’] initiative.
They also added dispensers for sachets and napkins to minimise unnecessary waste.
Paper straws were simply a natural progression in the campaign to eradicate single-use plastics across the board.
The recent change was announced at Supermac’s flagship restaurant in Dublin, where Managing Director Pat McDonagh shared the good news.
He said, “We recognise the strain that single-use plastics are having on our environment and that every little bit counts.
“We have already begun the removal of plastic straws from our 116 outlets and have started to replace them with paper ones.
“We have several other initiatives that we will be rolling out in the coming year as well.”
Supermac’s decision was commended by the Minister for Climate Action and the Environment, Richard Bruton, who referred to it as moving towards “a more sustainable path.”
He said, “Supermac’s decision to remove plastic straws from its 116 outlets will put the company on a more sustainable footing and demonstrate the company’s commitment to making progress on this issue.”
He added that the initiative would help to “reduce the amount of disposable plastic from our system and send an important signal down the supply chain.”
Supermac’s is not the only restaurant to take stock of how plastic is affecting our world.
Last year, MacDonald’s replaced plastic straws with paper ones across all their branches in Ireland and the UK.
While Disneyland Paris took similar steps ahead of this year’s summer rush.
With images of our oceans crammed with plastic waste and beaches smothered in rubbish, flooding social media every day, we cannot ignore the damage being done to our environment.
According to a Science Journal study, eight million tonnes of plastic is dumped into the oceans every year.
In 2018, the UN Environment Agency put the problem high on the agenda, declaring war on plastic, but it can’t stop there.
Campaign Manager for the Clean Seas Campaign, Petter Malvik, said, “Although bans alone won’t solve the problem, they are definitely more than just a drop in the bucket.”
Action including Supermac’s ban on plastic straws is a direct response to last month’s members’ vote in the European Parliament.
The vote resulted in the decision that all plastic items including straws, cutlery and cotton buds will be banned in Europe by 2021.
Fast-food chains that commit to long-term changes in support of this are paving the way for other outlets in the supply industry.
