Trump signed executive order against paper straws. Does that mean they’ll be banned in WA?
BELLINGHAM – On Monday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order titled “Ending Procurement and Forced Use of Paper Straws.” The order targets the now-ubiquitous drinking utensils, which are considered more environmentally friendly but less convenient than their plastic counterpart. However, it mainly concerns their use within the federal government and stops short of a complete ban.
The executive order criticizes recent attempts to incentivize the use of paper straws, which it calls “nonfunctional.” It also echoes recent claims that paper straws aren’t as environmentally friendly as they seem, despite being biodegradable, due to the amount of carbon emissions required to make them, and that they may be more likely to contain harmful chemicals.
Does the new executive order mean paper straws will disappear from Washington coffee shops and restaurants in the coming years? Here’s what Washington residents need to know.
Does Trump executive order ban paper straws?
The executive order primarily does two things: It compels federal agencies to stop using paper straws and orders federal officials to create a “National Strategy to End the Use of Paper Straws.”
The first part of the order applies to the federal government. It asks agency heads to work to “eliminate the procurement of paper straws and otherwise ensure that paper straws are no longer provided within agency buildings.”
The last part is a bit more complicated. It gives the president’s assistant on domestic policy 45 days to create a plan to discourage the use of paper straws within the federal government and nationwide. The plan must include steps to eliminate federal measures that favor paper straws, a strategy to address government contracts with entities that ban plastic straws, and any other way to discourage paper straw use nationwide.
Will paper straws be banned in Washington?
Nothing in the executive order bans or disincentivizes the use of paper straws outside of federal agencies. It does ask the advisors and agency heads working on the policy report to assess “available tools to achieve the policy of this order nationwide.” That leaves room for a broader policy discouraging the use of paper straws, should the report’s authors find that to be an option. But according to a fact sheet released by the White House, the goal is to “alleviate the forced use of paper straws.”
The report will include recommendations on how to deal with entities that contract with the government that “ban or penalize plastic straw purchase or use.” That includes states, according to the executive order.
While Seattle was an early adopter, instituting a plastic straw ban in 2018, Washington doesn’t currently have a statewide policy that bans plastic straws or penalizes their use.
The closest it has to that is a law prohibiting cafes and restaurants from automatically including single-use plastic utensils and straws in takeout orders. Restaurants are still allowed to provide single-use plastics, but only if customers request them, are asked to confirm that they want plastic utensils, or if plastic utensils are left out for customers at a self-serve station.