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SWA joins war on plastic straws

The Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) is the latest drinks industry group to ban plastic straws and drinks stirrers in a bid to reduce the impact of plastic waste on the environment.

The SWA has joined the war on plastic straws

Single-use plastic straws and stirrers will be removed and replaced with eco-friendly alternatives across all SWA events.

The move is an extension of the SWA’s Environmental Strategy, a set of targets put into place in 2009, including a commitment to ensure that all Scotch whisky packaging is recyclable by 2020.

Drinks giants Diageo, Pernod Ricard and Bacardi have also pledged to stop using plastic straws and stirrers across their businesses.

Furthermore, several campaigns have already been launched this year to tackle plastic straw usage, including the Straw Wars in London and the UK-wide Final Straw campaign.

Karen Betts, SWA chief executive, said: “The Scotch whisky industry takes sustainability very seriously. Our commitment to phasing out the use of all plastic straws and stirrers from all our offices, industry and events is yet another signal of our commitment to the environment.

“It is encouraging to see Scotch whisky producers taking steps to phase out unnecessary plastics. We hope that this SWA commitment will lead to the industry uniting behind biodegradable alternatives so that Scotch whisky cocktails can continue to be enjoyed without discarded plastics continuing to have a damaging impact on land as well as at sea.”

On Friday, SB‘s Owen Bellwood explored whether 2018 will be the year the industry waves goodbye to plastic straws for good.

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