Pernod Ricard partners with edible straw producer

Absolut Vodka owner Pernod Ricard is collaborating with edible plastics company Loliware to produce the “straw of the future”.

Loliware produces a hyper-compostible and edible plastic straw from seaweed

Founded in 2014 by Chelsea Briganti and Leigh Ann Tucker, Loliware is the ‘world’s first’ edible bioplastics company.

The firm produces a plastic cup made from edible materials derived from seaweed and has just launched a drinking straw made from the same hyper-compostable matter.

The Lolistraw is a fully edible drinking straw that the brand hopes will help replace the millions of straws and stirrers used around the world.

John Tran, director of sustainability and responsibility at Pernod Ricard USA, said: “Plastic straws can have a large environmental impact to marine life and oceans.

“Eliminating our use is only half the battle; offering alternatives that reimagine how straws are made, used, and converted to energy is the next step for genuine transformational change.”

As well as campaigning against plastic straws, Pernod Ricard USA is working to eliminate all operational waste in its business by 2020. The company’s partnership with Loliware contributes to this objective as the straws can be consumed or composted at the end of their use.

In the ongoing war against plastic waste, leading names in the drinks industry, including Pernod Ricard’s Chivas Regal blended Scotch and the world’s largest spirits group Diageo, as well as bars and nightclubs, have pledged to remove straws from their businesses.

In the UK, the government recently proposed a country-wide ban on plastic straws.