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Tetra Pak to develop paper straws for drink boxes

Tetra Pak says it plans to introduce paper straws by the end of the year to help combat plastic straw waste.

A provider of processing and packaging solutions for food, Tetra Pak says it has been working to encourage consumers to push straws “back in the pack” once empty, so they can be collected along with the rest of the package. Now, work is underway to develop a paper straw that is suitable for use on its portion-size carton packages.

Straws are an important component of portion packages, also known as drink boxes, but they become p​art of the plastics waste problem if not properly disposed, explains the company.

“It sounds simple enough,” Charles Brand, executive vice-president, product management and commercial operations, said, “but in reality, there are a number of significant challenges to producing a paper straw with the required properties. That said, our development team is confident they can find a solution, and that we’ll have a paper straw alternative ready to launch by the end of the year.”

Tetra Pak says its packages average about 75 percent paperboard, noting that paper straws would be another step toward its vision of offering a completely renewable portfolio.​​