People, Cities & Urbanisation, Planet, Asia Pacific

The Final Straw: Tackling plastic straw consumption in Singapore

AlphaBeta - The Final Straw - The Cyan Project | Jun 05, 2018

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AlphaBeta, The Final Straw and the Cyan Project released a publication today (“The Final Straw: Tackling plastic straw consumption in Singapore”), based on analytical work and an extensive survey of over 260 people based in Singapore to provide a fact base on plastic straw consumption in Singapore and attitudes towards possible solutions to reduce plastic straw use.

Among the key findings:

  • People in Singapore use an estimated 2.2 million straws per day. If laid end-to-end, Singapore’s daily plastic straw consumption would cover the coastline of Singapore more than twice over.
  • People use plastic straws primarily because they come with the drink they purchase. 62% of respondents indicated that this was one of the most important reasons for consuming plastic straws.
  • Consumers are willing to change. More than 80% of people in Singapore would be willing to go without a straw or use an alternative: 84% of people in Singapore would be willing to go without a straw, 81% would be willing to use an alternative to a plastic straw.
  • There is an incentive for food & drink outlets to change. 86% of consumers would feel positively about businesses offering sustainable alternatives to plastic straws. Almost all survey respondents, regardless of venue, said they would be willing to go without a straw or use an alternative to plastic. Consumers would be most open to going without entirely at restaurants, whilst at food courts they would still want to use an alternative.
  • There are simple steps that businesses can take to change. Businesses can conduct an audit of how many plastic straws they are using to quickly understand the scale of their impact and assess whether their customers would prefer to use an alternative or go without entirely.

“Plastic waste is a huge issue, harming and killing marine life, taking up precious landfill space and contributing to climate change” said Jonathan Tostevin, CEO at The Final Straw. “This research is a great step forward in providing us with a fact base so we can understand the extent of the problem in Singapore. It’s also great to hear that consumers are ready for change. They’re sending a clear message to food & drink outlets to reduce plastic straws usage or provide sustainable alternatives”.

You can download the full report here.

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