Disney Joins Cast of Companies Abandoning Plastic Straws

(Bloomberg) -- Walt Disney Co., which serves millions of children soft drinks annually at its theme parks, will eliminate single-use plastic straws and stirrers at all of its owned and operated locations by 2019.

The move will amount to a reduction of more than 175 million straws and 13 million plastic stirrers, the world’s largest entertainment company said Thursday on its website.

Eliminating plastic has become a new priority for socially conscious businesses. Starbucks Corp., which has plastic straws and stirrers in more than 28,000 coffee shops globally, said this month it would eliminate their use by 2020. Plastic waste has come under fire globally, particularly for contributing to ocean pollution and harming birds and sea mammals.

“Eliminating plastic straws and other plastic items are meaningful steps in our longstanding commitment to environmental stewardship,” Bob Chapek, the head of Disney parks, experiences and consumer products, said on the website. “These new global efforts help reduce our environmental footprint, and advance our long-term sustainability goals.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Rob Golum in Los Angeles at rgolum@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Turner at nturner7@bloomberg.net

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