Maria Virginia Sy

President Donald Trump on Monday (February 10) signed an executive order  aimed at encouraging the U.S. government and consumers to buy plastic  drinking straws, pushing back efforts by his predecessor to phase out  single-use plastics and tackle waste.

Article (news)

'I love that it's back,' says New Yorker after Trump signs plastic straw order

Reuters Wires

<div><script data-wid="auto" type="text/javascript" src="https://content.viralize.tv/display/?zid=AAEyze-tm4MR6kEa&amp;cid=ABUOO01lZGQNTm4e&amp;activation=click&amp;vip_mode=playing&amp;vip_position=bottom-right"></script></div>STORY: President Donald Trump on Monday (February 10) signed an executive order aimed at encouraging the U.S. government and consumers to buy plastic drinking straws, pushing back efforts by his predecessor to phase out single-use plastics and tackle waste. &quot;We&#x27;re going back to plastic straws,&quot; Trump told reporters at the White House as he signed the order, saying that paper straws &quot;don&#x27;t work.&quot; &quot;I don&#x27;t think plastic is going to affect a shark very much, as they&#x27;re munching their way through the ocean,&quot; Trump said. Trump&#x27;s Democratic predecessor, President Joe Biden, had proposed environmental measures to lower consumption of non-biodegradable single-use plastics, which damage ecosystems and contaminate food supplies. His administration also backed a global treaty aimed at putting a cap on plastic production. Monday&#x27;s executive order was part of a broader weakening of environmental commitments by Trump, who in one of the first acts of his second term removed the United States from the Paris climate agreement for the second time. Trump also rescinded a Biden administration policy to end the use of all single-use plastic products on federal lands by 2032. At Gracie&#x27;s Diner in New York on Tuesday (February 11), Maria Pagan said, &quot;Plastic is it. I love that it&#x27;s back,&quot; unwrapping a plastic straw and drinking from it in her glass of water. Pagan further elaborated on her preference for plastic straws after recounting an experience with a paper straw. &quot;I drink my margarita with a paper straw, but before I finish my drink, it was already destroyed - horrible in your mouth,&quot; she said. Nikoleta Nikolakakos said that while she&#x27;s a fan of recycling, she doesn&#x27;t believe that the world can be saved by a straw. George Sarantakos simply said, &quot;God bless Donald Trump.&quot; Judith Enck, president of Beyond Plastics, had a different take. She called the executive order regarding plastic straws &quot;rather odd,&quot; and also suggested that the focus should be on skipping straws altogether when possible and opting for reusable ones when necessary. &quot;I think the plastic straw has become a bit of a symbol in terms of people&#x27;s concern about the environment and how plastics is having a devastating impact on the ocean,&quot; Enck said. Enck emphasized the connection between plastic use and poor health, as well as its impact on climate change. She highlighted the danger of microplastics to marine life and their presence in the human body and even the human brain. &quot;This is a very small part of a broader anti-environmental agenda out of the Trump administration,&quot; she said. &quot;There will be a wholesale assault on environmental protection. I think the responsible thing for President Trump to do is to embrace policies to reduce the production of plastic. But unfortunately, he is going in the totally opposite direction. But we should not despair. There are other countries, there are states, there are local governments who can take far more responsible positions than what we&#x27;re seeing from this administration.&quot; Dozens of countries have imposed bans on various kinds of single-use plastics, produced mainly through petrochemicals and used to make shopping bags, bottles and other disposable items. If no new controls are introduced, the amount of plastic waste dumped into the environment is projected to rise from 81 million metric tons in 2020 to 119 million tons in 2040, according to OECD research published last year. Negotiations on a global treaty to control plastic pollution broke down last year, with major plastic-producing nations reluctant to commit to binding output caps. (Production: Roselle Chen, Kyoko Gasha, Ali Withers)

President Donald Trump on February 10, 2025, signed an executive order aimed at encouraging the U.S. government and consumers to buy plastic drinking straws, pushing back efforts by his predecessor to phase out single-use plastics and tackle waste.

President Donald Trump on February 10, 2025, signed an executive order aimed at encouraging the U.S. government and consumers to buy plastic drinking straws, pushing back efforts by his predecessor to phase out single-use plastics and tackle waste.

'I love that it's back,' says New Yorker after Trump signs plastic straw order

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'I love that it's back,' says New Yorker after Trump signs plastic straw order

Reuters

Published Feb 12, 2025 01:17 PM PHT

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USA

US President Donald Trump

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