Paper straw factory to open in Britain as restaurants ditch plastic

Production line in Ebbw Vale, Wales, to make straws for McDonald's and othersNo paper straws have been made in Britain for the last several decades. But that is about to change as a group of packaging industry veterans prepare to open a dedicated paper straw production line in Ebbw Vale, Wales, making hundreds of millions of straws a year for McDonald's and other food companies as they prepare for a ban on plastic straws in the UK. "We spotted a huge opportunity, and we went for it," said Mark Varney, sales and marketing director of the newly created paper straw manufacturer Transcend Packaging. "When the BBC's Blue Planet II was on the telly and the government started talking about the dangers of plastic straws, we saw a niche in the market." Continue reading...