Punch becomes latest pubco to stop using straws

Punch has committed to no longer serving drinks with plastic straws unless requested, and will also remove plastic straws from customer view to reduce usage, it said.

The pub company is also in the process of researching suitable recyclable and re-usable alternatives which it hopes to introduce in due course.

Harm sea-life

Punch’s managing director of operations, Paul Pavli, explained: “Plastic straws can take a shocking 500 years to decompose and generally end up in landfill or make their way into our oceans where they can harm sea-life.

"Alongside a number of our peers in the industry, we are absolutely committed to reducing the use of damaging plastic straws in our retail pubs and will also be encouraging our circa 1,200 leased and tenanted publicans to join the campaign and benefit from training material and POS to make consumers aware of this very important cause.”

Last week, Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers chief executive Kate Nicholls said the pub industry was "ready to lead the way" on reducing plastic waste, praising pub companies which have already stopped the use of straws.

In December, the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee 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.