Soilable Straw

Soilable Straw

Soilable Straw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJzlxaJvt38

Around the world, there is a trend of plastic reduction. The F&B industry needs to find alternatives for plastic straws. Although there are no-straw movements, most of the people still have the habit of using straws when drinking. It is difficult to change people’s habit, not to mention those who need straws for medical reasons.

Various green straws have emerged. However, many are “green-washed” and have over-claimed their benefits to the environment. For example, bamboo fibre straws, and sugarcane straws are actually made by bio-plastics like PLA, claiming to be biodegradable but in fact behave like traditional plastics if littered. Therefore, places like Europe, Toronto, and California will ban them.

After researching the green straws in the market, paper is the most eco-friendly material in our opinion, however the common paper straws were invented over 130 years ago, and not in line with today's sustainability and dining requirements, such as getting soggy and unusable quickly but made by a large amount of paper.

In light of the situation, SOILABLE has developed our own innovative sustainable straw made by paper, solving all the problems of common paper straws and other alternatives in the market. SOILABLE straws are made by a single piece of water barrier coated paper and sealed by ultrasound. They are durable for over 3hrs without sogginess, have a comfortable and flexible mouthfeel, while made by 20-30% less paper and maybe the only truly recyclable straw in the market. We have achieved a balance between sustainability, delightful using experience, and corporate concerns, in order to attract more people and F&B businesses to switch to out paper straws.

Our product features, a combination of sustainability, delightful using experience, and corporate considerations, as listed below, is the main factors to achieve our sustainability benefits and to make more in the F&B industry willing to use sustainable straws, to contribute together for the good of the Earth and create a more sustainable F&B industry.

Sustainability
We adheres to the basic environmental 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, but Reduce is not applicable to disposable straws).
1. Use up to 40% less paper than common paper straws (reduced raw materials)
2. Certified recyclable
3. Compostable
4. Degradable

Most green straw sellers put their emphasize on biodegradable and compostable. However biodegradation is just a way to get rid of littered straws, they will disappear by themselves eventually. Moreover, biodegradable is extremely slow (measured in decades) in modern landfills due to their dry and anaerobic environment. Anyway landfills are only a last resort for waste treatment in our opinion. Also, composting is not practical in some places, such as HK without a large scale industrial composting facility.

Therefore, we focus on recycling. Biodegradation and composting are only add-ons to us, not the main way of after-use treatment. Still, our straws are industrial compostable, and our newest product line, zero series straws, are able to degrade within 2 months in the ocean.

SOILABLE straws are the only effectively recyclable straw (recycle into other paper products, such as toilet paper).

Other common paper straws are non-recyclable. It was reported by The Sun that paper straws in F&B groups like McDonald’s UK, KFC and Costa are not recycled, because they are made by wet-strength paper and strong glue, making them difficult to be recycled so many paper recyclers refuse to take them in.

On the contrary, SOILABLE paper straws do not use wet-strength paper and glue, so they can be easily recycled. In Hong Kong, we are already certified by a local paper recycler, Mil Mill, to be recyclable with packaging such as Tetra Pak and paper cups. Our new product line, zero series paper straws are even recyclable with normal paper wastes, such as A4 office papers. Our sustainability is way ahead of other alternatives.

As mentioned, we have been educating our customers about our special recyclability, and distribute posters with recycling information to our F&B business customers. They can put up the posters in their F&B outlets to encourage their patrons, especially those who order take-outs, to recycle their straws after their meal. Paper is the most recycled material around the world (e.g. 40% in HK), meaning the public is used to paper recycling and our goal is in line with the general practices among the people.

Delightful Using Experience & Corporate Concerns
Straws are unavoidable for F&B businesses, especially for city people who need convenience. Also during COVID time, straws provide a sense of hygiene as people can avoid contacting the shared beverage containers with their lips when drinking.

Although made with the minimum amount of materials, SOILABLE straws offer the best using experience, similar to plastic straws. They are durable for over 3hrs without sogginess. Restaurant patrons can use a single straw for their whole meal comfortably, and our F&B business customers do not get complaints on the straws from patrons, a good incentive on service quality for more F&B businesses to switch to using our sustainable straws.

Also, we have high customization possibilities. Unlike the simple and repetitive patterns on common paper straws, SOILABLE paper straws offer complex printing without limitations, a good way for F&B businesses to maintain branding and a new way of promotion (e.g. attract patrons to make posts on social media on the special straw printing for free online promotion), giving economic incentive for businesses to use our straws and contribute to sustainability together.

Finally, as our production capacity has been stabilized, we are ready to offer a more competitive pricing to F&B businesses. A great challenge we have been facing is the higher cost of paper products for F&B businesses. We hope our reduction in price would make more F&B businesses willing to switch to our sustainable straws.

www.soilable.com