Features Environment & Sustainability Packaging Paper
Paper straws to replace plastic on drink boxes

May 7, 2018 – Paper straws will be introduced by the end of the year by Tetra Pak to help combat plastic straw waste.

Straws are an important component of portion packages, also known as drink boxes, but they become p​art of the plastics waste problem if not properly disposed. Tetra Pak has been working to encourage consumers to push straws “back in the pack” once empty, so they can be collected along with the rest of the package. Now, work is underway to develop a paper straw that is suitable for use on its portion-size carton packages.

“It sounds simple enough,” Charles Brand, executive vice-president, product management and commercial operations, said, “but in reality, there are a number of significant challenges to producing a paper straw with the required properties. That said, our development team is confident they can find a solution, and that we’ll have a paper straw alternative ready to launch by the end of the year.”

On average, Tetra Pak packages are about 75 per cent paperboard; paper straws would be another important step towards the company’s long-term ambition of offering a completely renewable portfolio.​​