McDonald’s to ditch plastic straws in UK and Ireland

McDonald’s says it will replace plastic straws with paper ones in restaurants in the UK and Ireland starting in September.

The move to paper is expected to be complete in these locations by the end of the year.

Right now, the restaurant chain uses 1.8 million straws a day in the UK.

Several companies around the world have opted out of single-use plastic products in an effort to reduce the amount of plastic being thrown out and ending up in landfills or oceans.

In Canada, A&W has announced that it will eliminate plastic straws by 2019, while Vancouver is moving ahead with a city-wide ban.

Meanwhile, McDonald’s says it will begin trials for non-plastic straws in select restaurants in the U.S., France and Norway.