McDonald's says that the paper straws that many UK customers hate can't actually be recycled

AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File

McDonald's ditched plastic straws in all locations in the UK and Ireland in 2018.

• A McDonald's spokesperson said that its paper straws are actually unrecyclable.
• The paper straws were rolled out at all of its UK and Ireland restaurants in 2018, replacing the chain's 100% recyclable plastic straws.
• The move was praised by politicians and environmentalists at the time, though many customers were not fans of the paper design.
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Last year, McDonald's made headlines after it announced that it would be pulling plastic straws from all of its UK locations and replacing them with paper straws.

The decision was praised by politicians and environmentalists. Then-environment secretary Michael Gove said it marked a "significant contribution" to helping the environment and that McDonald's was setting "a fine example to other large businesses."

But it turns out these straws are not actually so eco-friendly. In fact, unlike their plastic equivalents, they are completely unrecyclable at present.

"While the materials are recyclable, their current thickness makes it difficult for them to be processed by our waste solution providers, who also help us recycle our paper cups," a McDonald's spokesman told the UK's Press Association news agency.

In a statement emailed to Business Insider, a spokesperson said that this was "a wider industry issue, as the infrastructure needed to recycle has not kept pace with the emergence of paper straws."

The news came out after UK newspaper The Sun reported on an internal memo that advised employees to dispose of the paper straws in the general waste until further notice.

Before the change, McDonald's had said it used 1.8 million plastic straws in its UK restaurants every day, and while those straws were 100% recyclable, it said that more could be done. .

Customers strongly criticized the move and said the new straws made it hard to drink milkshakes. An online petition calling for a return to plastic straws has more than 51,000 signatures.