Wellington Hospitality Group to stop using plastic straws

Friday, 23 February 2018

Wagamamas have dropped plastic straws world-wide after the WCC initiative which revealed their impact on the local harbour.

A group of Wellington bars and restaurants will stop using plastic straws.

Wellington Hospitality Group, which owns 25 venues throughout Wellington including Coene's on Oriental Parade, will stop using plastic straws from Saturday. This coincides with the United States' National 'Skip the Straw' Day.

Group retail manager Andrew Williams said all its bars and restaurants had been trialling the 'no straw approach' for the past few months, and most customers had embraced it.

However, there were some people who were yet to jump on board, he said.

**READ MORE:

If customers still want a straw, they'll be given an environmentally friendly paper straw.

* Wagamama Wellington leads worldwide chain in plastic straw ban

* Pernod Ricard bans plastic straws from its business, encourages others to follow suit

Wagamamas manager Rosie Gilbertson has replaced plastic straws with biodegradable straws.

* Straw habit needs to be broken to wean us off plastic

* Council aims to curb use of plastic straws in Wellington restaurants**

'We realise that not everyone is quite there yet, so if they do want a straw we only use an environmentally friendly paper straw,' Williams said.

The move was part of the company's aim to become a more environmentally conscious organisation, he said.

Coene's, which overlooks Wellington's waterfront, was the first venue in the group to trial no straws, Williams said.

Coene's general manager Jen Mole said: 'It's so important that we think about the damage they are doing to our marine life and environment'.

'It takes 200 years for a plastic straw to decompose, which is a scary thought,' she said.

'I think it is such an easy change for people to get on board with, but will result in such a huge difference. Every little bit helps.'

Earlier this week, Asian restaurant Wagamama Wellington said it was going to ban plastic straws.

New Zealanders throw away 541 million straws a year, with Sustainable Coastlines reporting straws are among the most common items collected during beach clean-ups.

One-use plastic straws are usually made from materials like polypropylene and polystyrene, which can take hundreds of years to degrade.

Wellington City Council wants to do its part by bulk buying biodegradable paper straws to help bars and restaurants make the transition away from plastic straws.

Some Auckland food outlets are also following suit, with some using stainless steel straws.

Auckland Council waste solutions general manager Parul Sood said it would be interested in looking at how to implement a straw trial like the one in Wellington.

A handful of New Plymouth bars and restaurants are also taking a stand against plastic straws, and fast food restaurant Nando's has removed straws from all of its New Zealand restaurants.

In December, Hospitality New Zealand spokeswoman Racheal Shadbolt said the move away from plastic straws was gaining momentum.

She doubted that customers would mind if the straws disappeared.

'Nine times out of 10 they don't want them anyway, so why are we doing it?,' Shadbolt said.

Many drinkers pulled the straw out and put it on the table beside them, she said.

'They are simply more of a nuisance factor than anything else.'

The move towards paper straws means going back to the original modern straw, which was invented in the 1880s in the United States. Much cheaper plastic straws took over from the 1970s.