'Back to plastic': Trump signs order for plastic straws as he declares paper ones 'don't work'
Washington (AP): President Donald Trump said Monday he is banning federal use of paper straws, saying they “don't work” and don't last very long. Instead he wants the government to exclusively move to plastic.
“It's a ridiculous situation. We're going back to plastic straws,” Trump said as he signed an executive order to reverse federal purchasing policies that encourage paper straws and restrict plastic ones. The order directs federal agencies to stop buying paper straws “and otherwise ensure that paper straws are no longer provided within agency buildings.”
The move by Trump - who has long railed against paper straws, and whose 2019 reelection campaign sold Trump-branded reusable plastic straws for $15 per pack of 10 - targets a Biden administration policy to phase out federal purchases of single-use plastics, including straws, from food service operations, events and packaging by 2027, and from all federal operations by 2035.
Trump declared President Joe Biden's policy “DEAD!” in a social media post over the weekend.
While plastic straws have been blamed for polluting oceans and harming marine life, Trump said Monday that he thinks "it's OK” to continue using them. “I don't think that plastic is going to affect the shark very much as they're eating, as they're munching their way through the ocean,'' he said at a White House announcement.
Several US states and cities have banned plastic straws, and some restaurants no longer automatically give them to customers. But plastic straws are only a small part of the problem. The environment is littered with single-use plastic food and beverage containers - water bottles, takeout containers, coffee lids, shopping bags and more.
Around the world, the equivalent of one garbage truck of plastic enters the ocean every minute from a range of sources, including plastic bags, toothbrushes, bottles, food packaging and more, experts say. As those materials break down in the environment, microplastics are turning up in the stomachs of fish, birds and other animals, as well as in human blood and tissue.
And plastic manufacturing releases planet-warming greenhouse gases and other dangerous pollutants. More than 90% of plastic products are derived from fossil fuels such as oil and natural gas, and millions of tons of plastic waste enter the world's oceans every year. Many multinational companies have moved away from plastic straws and have made reducing plastic use across their operations central to their sustainability goals, making Trump's decision an outlier in the business world.
Trump's order is “more about messaging than finding solutions,? said Christy Leavitt, plastics campaign director for the environmental group Oceana, noting that most U.S. voters support requiring companies to reduce single-use plastic packaging and foodware.
“President Trump is moving in the wrong direction on single-use plastics,'' Leavitt said. “The world is facing a plastic pollution crisis, and we can no longer ignore one of the biggest environmental threats facing our oceans and our planet today.”
The plastic manufacturing industry applauded Trump's move.
“Straws are just the beginning,” Matt Seaholm, president and CEO of the Plastics Industry Association, said in a statement. “Back to Plastic' is a movement we should all get behind.”
More than 390 million straws are used every day in the United States, mostly for 30 minutes or less, according to advocacy group Straws Turtle Island Restoration Network. Straws take at least 200 years to decompose and pose a threat to turtles and other wildlife as they degrade into microplastics, the group says.
"To prevent another sea turtle from becoming a victim to plastic, we must make personal lifestyle alterations to fight for these species,'' the group said in a statement.
Every year, the world produces more than 400 million tons of new plastic. About 40% of all plastics are used in packaging, according to the United Nations.
Globally, nations are creating a treaty to address plastic pollution. Leaders met for a week in South Korea late last year but didn't reach an agreement. Talks resume this year as more than 100 countries pursue a pact that limits plastic production as well as tackles cleanup and recycling.
The U.S., China and Germany are the biggest players in the global plastics trade. U.S. manufacturers have asked Trump to remain at the negotiating table, and to revert to Biden's previous position that focused on redesigning plastic products, recycling and reuse.
White House staff secretary Will Scharf, who presented the executive order to Trump, told him the push for paper straws has cost the government and private industry “an absolute ton of money and left consumers all over the country wildly dissatisfied with their straws. It really is something that affects ordinary Americans in their everyday lives."
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Murder case accused dies in police custody due to 'illness'
Bengaluru (PTI): A 45-year-old murder case accused allegedly died due to illness while in police custody, police said on Thursday.
The deceased was arrested by the Mahalakshmi Layout police on April 28 in connection with a conspiracy to rob money and gold ornaments from a woman living alone by causing a fatal accident.
“In this case, one accused was arrested and produced before the court for further investigation, and police custody was obtained. On May 2, at around 2:00 a.m., the accused complained of stomach pain. He was immediately admitted as an inpatient atVictoria Hospital.
On May 5, at around 9:20 a.m., the doctors at Victoria Hospital informed that the accused had died after failing to respond to treatment,” police said in a release.
The accused had a history of long-term illness, it said. “While he was in police custody, he became unwell due to stomach pain and was admitted to Victoria Hospital for treatment. He died after failing to respond to treatment.”
According to police, against this person, three cases were registered at Seshadripuram Police Station, one at Mahalakshmi Layout Police Station, one at High Grounds Police Station, and one at Rajagopal Nagar Police Station.
Earlier, a rowdy sheet had been opened against him at Seshadripuram Police Station.
