Müller has committed to removing all plastic straws from its school milk cartons by 2020.
The dairy giant stated that its decision was prompted by children at Sunnyside Primary School in Glasgow, who contacted the firm last year and presented their concerns about the environmental impact of plastic straws.
The school has since worked with Müller to trial a new paper straw, which is attached to its recyclable school milk cartons.
The paper straw is also fully recyclable and has been developed in partnership with Tetra Pak over the last 18 months. It is made from Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified paperboard.
The company is currently undertaking further trials. If successful, its Bridgwater site will begin the permanent roll out of the paper straws by the end of March 2020. Müller’s other school milk producing sites will follow by the end of 2020, eliminating 48 tonnes of plastic every year.
Gareth Budd, Head of Customer Innovation at Müller Milk & Ingredients said: “We’ve already removed 10,000 tonnes of plastic from our packaging in recent years, our fresh milk bottles are 100% recyclable, and they contain up to 40% recycled material.
“But to ensure that future generations continue to benefit from the goodness of fresh school milk, we recognise the need to continually innovate and update our packaging.
“The pupils at Sunnyside Primary School have a real passion for positive change, and were an inspiration. We thank them for their valued participation in the trial, and now we’re fully focused on removing all plastic straws from our school milk by the end of 2020.”
