---
title: "Trump signs executive order on plastic drinking straws"
description: "WASHINGTON, Feb 10 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order aimed at encouraging the U.S. government and consumers to buy plastic drinking straws, pushing back efforts by his predecessor to phase out single-use plastics and tackle waste."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "Single-use plastic"
author: "Reuters"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/reuters/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-02-11-trump-signs-executive-order-on-plastic-drinking-straws/"
published: "2025-02-11T12:35:26"
updated: "2025-02-11T12:35:28"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 248
---

# Trump signs executive order on plastic drinking straws

> WASHINGTON, Feb 10 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order aimed at encouraging the U.S. government and consumers to buy plastic drinking straws, pushing back efforts by his predecessor to phase out single-use plastics and tackle waste.

By Reuters · Published 11 February 2025, 14:35 SAST · Updated 11 February 2025, 14:35 SAST

## Key points
- In a move that leaves environmentalists gasping for air, Trump has declared a triumphant return to plastic straws, arguing that while they may not be eco-friendly, they certainly beat soggy paper when it comes to sipping.
- Trump reverts to plastic straws, claiming paper alternatives "don't work," during a White House signing.
- He downplays environmental concerns, stating plastic won't significantly impact sharks.
- The executive order marks a rollback of Biden-era environmental policies, including a ban on single-use plastics on federal lands.
- Global negotiations on plastic waste caps stalled, with projections indicating a rise in plastic waste from 81 million tons in 2020 to 119 million by 2040.

## Content

"We're going back to plastic straws," Trump told reporters at the White House as he signed the order, saying that paper straws "don't work."

"I don't think plastic is going to affect a shark very much, as they're munching their way through the ocean," Trump said.

Trump's Democratic predecessor, President Joe Biden, had proposed environmental measures to lower consumption of non-biodegradable single-use plastics, which damage ecosystems and contaminate food supplies. A voluntary action plan was published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in November.

Monday's executive order was part of a broader weakening of environmental commitments by Trump, who in one of the first acts of his second term, removed the United States from the Paris climate agreement for the second time.

Trump also rescinded a Biden administration policy to end the use of all single-use plastic products on federal lands by 2032.

Dozens of countries have imposed bans on various kinds of single-use plastics, produced mainly through petrochemicals and used to make shopping bags, bottles and other disposable items.

However, negotiations on a global treaty broke down last year, with major plastic-producing nations reluctant to commit to binding output caps.

The amount of plastic waste dumped into the environment is projected to rise from 81 million metric tons in 2020 to as much as 119 million tons in 2040, according to OECD research published last year.

(Reporting by Steve Holland and Trevor Hunnicutt; additional reporting by David Stanway in Singapore; Editing by Chris Reese and Bernadette Baum)