Eco friendly straws for restaurants

A UK-wide ban on plastic drinking straws came into force in October 2020, bringing with it the need for eco friendly alternatives to plastic straws for many restaurants and catering establishments.
Whilst more must be done to challenge the throwaway culture (and plastic straws are only a tiny fraction of the problem), it’s a step in the right direction. Manufacturers have been busy coming up with biodegradable replacements to single use plastic straws, which we’re very happy to be able to provide.

Who we are

Single Use Alternatives was founded by Adrian and Neil; two brothers who are passionate about enjoying the outdoors and caring for the environment. Concerned about the impact single use plastics are having upon the environment, we decided to offer a range of cost effective high quality, alternative products.

To find out more about our products simply browse through our website. If you have any questions we’d love to hear from you: please complete the enquiry form on our contact page.

Eco friendly spoon straws

Our Spoon straw from Ingeo, comes in a pack of 200, and is ideal for slushies and smoothies. Fully compostable, these straws are made from PLA, a plant based plastic which looks, acts and performs just like petroleum based plastics. The crucial benefit of our eco friendly spoon straws is that they’re 100% compostable in commercial composting facilities. Our straws won’t get soggy during use, and come in a range of sizes.

Eco friendly bendy straws

From the same manufacturer and material as our spoon straws, our eco friendly bendy straws perform much as the old fashioned (and now banned) plastic straws, but they’re seriously better for the planet than oil based plastic!

100% Compostable paper straws

As you might expect, compostable paper straws have made a comeback, and the new 3-ply stronger paper straws reduce sogginess, so they last longer.

The World-wide movement to end plastic straws and use compostable paper straws

After their useful life of about 20 minutes, plastic straws are discarded - ending up in landfill, at best, or usually, in our oceans, where they are ingested by marine life causing plastic to make its way up the food chain. In fact, plastic never completely breaks down but rather just becomes smaller and smaller. Think about this: every single piece of plastic you’ve ever used in your life still exists and will outlive your great, great grandchildren.

It's worth remembering that not all paper straws are created equal - some paper straws feature a plastic lining, which means they end up in landfill instead of recycling or compost. Our compostable and recyclable paper straws do not have any coating, so you can be sure that they’ll be able to be recycled with your food waste, where available.

Benefits of paper straws from Single Use Alternatives

The benefits of paper straws over plastic are many, including:

They’re biodegradable
They’ll only take around two to six weeks to completely decompose (as opposed to traditional plastics which take 100’s of years)
You can purchase them in bulk, and in quantities that make it easy for you to store them, and then it’s easy to re-order them when you’re running low!

Our simple to use, modern ordering system makes it easy for you to order from us, and we aim for hassle free deliveries to individuals and businesses. By buying in bulk and passing those savings onto our customers, we’re helping you get the best prices on your plastic free alternative food packaging, and ensuring that you’re able to head towards being fully recyclable, compostable and biodegradable.