The makers of the paper used by McDonald's has hit back at claims they cannot be recycled.
There had been reports the paper straw could not be recycled but the Welsh-based company that makes the straws says that is untrue.
McDonald's paper straw are made from two companies, one in Northern Ireland and one in South Wales.
Mark Varney, sale and marketing manager for Transcend Packaging, which is based in Ystrad Mynach, said: "They are fully recyclable."
The UK is to ban plastic straws from April 2020, and they will be banned across the EU from July 2021. This means paper straws will likely become more popular and infrastructure will be needed by business as well as at the local authority level in order to maximise the opportunity to recycle them.
"There are 2 important steps in replacing a single-use plastic straw with a sustainable paper alternative," said Mr Varney.
"These steps involve product and process. As for the product, paper straws are an excellent alternative to single-use plastic straws.
"Why would we want to use a product that can last 200 years in nature throughout the course of a 15 minute beverage? Transcend Packaging’s paper drinking straws are made from 100% FSC certified paper sourced from certified sustainably managed forests. They are fully recyclable and the paper used to make our straws is routinely recycled in paper mills across the UK every day.
"The second step is process. In this case, process is represented by the investments in recycling infrastructure at the local authority level by waste solution providers to make sure they have procedures in place to process paper straws and working with companies to align their recycling practices at all levels to make sure that a 'recyclable' product is actually recycled."
Mr Varney added that if a paper straw does fall out of the recycling chain, then it will decompose as it is designed to do, unlike the plastic variety, as it is made of paper and will not create micro plastics that have proven to be harmful to marine life.
Transcend Packaging was one of two manufacturers who were contracted to supply the paper straws to the fast food giant. This has resulted in more than 140 jobs coming to Ystrad Mynach.
Along with paper straws the company is looking at creating a paper lid to replace the current plastic one on McFlurry ice creams.
Back in spring the paper straws were subjected to a petition demanding McDonald's reverses the decision to stop using plastic straws.
Mr Varney hit back at that criticism saying "they perform well and are engineered to last at least 45 minutes in a variety of liquids".
"Overall the customer reaction has been very positive for paper straws. The petition being cited references 40,000 signatures," he said at the time.
"However, when you balance the fact that the UK is now using millions of paper straws per week, it works out to be an extremely small percentage of the consuming public that is having difficulty in making the transition away from single use plastic straws. "
Transcend agreed a deal last year with the Welsh Government to receive more than £500,000 over three years. The support is on top of an £11m investment by the company.
