The ALMR said it is supporting steps to reduce the use of plastic straws in venues and is encouraging its members, and the wider sector, to help tackle the issue.
Pub companies that have so far banned plastic straws:
- JD Wetherspoon
- Liberation Group
- Oakman Inns
- All Bar One
- Laine Pub Co
- Redcomb Pubs
- Be At One
It has encouraged businesses to phase out and ban plastic straws following the Government’s plan to tackle environmental waste and other campaigns, including the most recent one by the Evening Standard.
In December, the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) called on the Government to introduce strict regulations for all public premises that serve food or drink to cut down on plastic wastage and to provide free drinking water on request.
The call came as part of the EAC's report Plastic Bottles: Turning Back the Plastic Tide, which said plastic bottles make up a third of all plastic pollution in the sea, and that if marine plastic pollution continues to rise at its current rate, the amount of plastic in the sea will outweigh fish by 2050.
Sustainable alternatives
ALMR chief executive Kate Nicholls said: “A number of the ALMR’s members have already begun to phase out the use of plastic straws: a sign that the sector is acknowledging the issue and ready to lead the way on reducing harmful waste.
"Additionally, we have removed them from our own industry and parliamentary events and will continue to be proactive in a move away from the use of plastic straws.
“The Government has already outlined its intention to tackle the use of single-use plastic and the issue is one that many members of the public feel passionately about. There is clearly an appetite for businesses to investigate sustainable alternatives to plastic straws."
She added: “The ALMR will be working with the British Institute of Innkeeping to promote alternatives to plastics and encourage more of our members to follow the lead of businesses like All Bar One, Be At One and JD Wetherspoon in ending the use of plastic straws and tackling waste that does environmental damage.”