CYNTHIA CHOO Today Online 30 Dec 18;
SINGAPORE — Yakult Singapore will stop providing straws from the end of the year, the company said in a Facebook post on Thursday (Dec 27).
The announcement comes as a growing number of food and beverage manufacturers, restaurants and cafes around the world have joined the movement to cut down on the use of plastics.
Even entire cities have jumped on the bandwagon. Most recently, the authorities in Bali have enacted a ban on single-use plastics, including shopping bags, styrofoam food packets and straws.
In its post, Yakult Singapore said that it will be removing straws from two of its products — Yakult and Yakult Ace Light — “from end December 2018 onwards”, as part of efforts “in contributing to environment protection and sustainability”.
Yakult, a probiotic milk beverage, can be “consumed directly from the bottle by removing the foil cap,” the firm added.
In Singapore, companies that have announced plans to eliminate plastic straws include KFC, Starbucks, Burger King and Resorts World Sentosa (RWS).
In June this year, KFC announced that it would no longer provide plastic caps and straws for dine-in customers at its 84 outlets in Singapore, a move that will see a reduction of 17.8 metric tonnes of single-use plastics in a year.
The next month, global coffee giant Starbucks also said it would ditch all plastic straws at its stores around the world by 2020.
And in October, Burger King pledged to remove plastic straws and lids for their cold drinks for dine-in customers at its 42 outlets in Singapore.
Since Oct 1, dining establishments and five themed attractions across RWS have also stopped providing customers with plastic straws, a move that will save more than three million, or 1.2 tonnes of, plastic straws a year, the integrated resort said.
Removal of straws part of efforts toward environmental protection, sustainability: Yakult Singapore
Channel NewsAsia 2 Jan 19;
SINGAPORE: Yakult Singapore on Wednesday (Jan 2) said it is looking at alternative materials to replace plastic as part of its packaging, following its earlier announcement that it would no longer be providing straws with its drinks.
The company said the decision to eliminate straws is part of its “corporate social responsibility ... as well as an effort in contributing to environmental protection and sustainability”.
“While this initiative may come (abruptly) for some people, we have received mostly positive comments,” said Yakult Singapore.
“We are studying alternative materials that can replace plastic. We start with what we can do now – that is to eliminate the straws.”
Before the removal of straws, Yakult Ace Light’s bottle cap was redesigned to include a lid. With the new design, consumers can now remove the cap and drink directly from the bottle for both Yakult and Yakult Ace Light, the company said.
“With the worldwide movement of reducing single-use plastics, the concept of removing straws is now more widely accepted," said Yakult Singapore.
“Furthermore, most schools are educating children to reduce plastic waste and we believe this decision will help educators in that direction.”
Yakult began selling its probiotic milk drinks in Singapore in 1979.
Straws have always been included in the packaging here, but the company said that in most countries where they are sold, Yakult drinks do not come with straws.
Yakult Malaysia also recently removed straws from its packaging.
In recent months, several companies in Singapore have announced plans to eliminate plastic straws in a bid to reduce waste. These include KFC, Burger King and Starbucks.
Source: CNA/ga(rw)
