Not as eco-friendly as you might think. To break down, it needs special conditions only available in industrial composting facilities, but very few cities have these. So it ends up in landfill and takes years to decompose, releasing methane, a greenhouse gas that’s 23 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

Again, not as green as they might seem. Lots of energy and resources are used to produce them, and the process releases greenhouse gases. In fact, they must be reused at least 32 times to compensate for the energy that’s been used to make them. That’s a lot of wear and tear to go through.

On the surface, these appear environmentally friendly.
Yet a deeper look shows that the agave fibres are turned into something called a BSP agave compound, while a biodegradation additive is added (whatever that is). Although we’re not sure what a BSP compound is, we do know that a well-known tequila brand has developed their own agave straws with a bio-based composite, which biodegrades in 5 years, yet is still made of 69% plastic (so all the negatives of plastic production come with these). The reason for this is because if they contained only agave fibres, the straws would break. So although other brands of agave bio straws might not claim they have plastic in them, there’s a question mark over what the agave compound is made of, or what their durability is like.

When it comes to carbon emissions, producing one metal straw is the same as making 150 plastic ones. You need to reuse a metal straw at least 150 times to break even on the environmental cost of its production. In terms of personal use, this means taking it everywhere with you, especially out clubbing. For wholesale, there’s a lot of cleaning and checking for scratches and other damage – stainless steel is not resistant to heat or the acid from drinks such as lemonade. Medical stainless steel versions are more resistant, yet much pricier.

Paper straws aren’t a friendly single-use product. They need more energy and resources to manufacture than plastic. And if food residue is left on them, they can’t be recycled, so are sent to landfill or are ‘converted into energy’, which means they’re burned, causing pollution and greenhouse gases.

The main problem with the pasta straw is that you can’t use it in a hot drink, as the heat ‘cooks’ the pasta and turns the straw soft and mushy. There’s also a subtle flavour of dried pasta when you’re drinking water. Its big durability claim is that it lasts longer than paper or card, which means it sees its key rivals as the soggiest straws around. Plus, as it’s food, its shelf life is around a year, which might not be handy if you want to stock up. So we praise the pasta straw for its eco-credentials, but not its business canniness.