The new paper straws will be sourced from BioPak and Austraw, and will become available through Amatil's ordering platform to 115,000 outlets across Australia including bars, cafes, quick service restaurants; and grocery, petrol and convenience stores.
The transition will take place over the next two months.
Alison Watkins, group managing director, said: “We’re serious about playing our part in reducing unnecessary plastic packaging. We’ve heard the community message loud and clear - that unnecessary packaging is unacceptable and we all need to work together to reduce the amount entering litter streams, the environment and the oceans.“
A number of other companies have pledged to ban plastic straws from their operations: including Disney, Pernod Ricard, Starbucks, Diageo, and the Scotch Whisky Association.
Wider targets
Coca-Cola Amatil wants all of its packaging – including bottles, cans, plastic wrap and straws – to be fully recyclable by 2025.
It has also set sustainability targets for 2020 that include:
- improving water intensity to no more than 1.95L/L in non-alcoholic beverages; and target a 25% improvement in water efficiency for alcoholic beverages
- reducing the carbon footprint of drinks by 25%
- using at least 60% renewable or low-carbon energy throughout its operations
- ‘develop a business case’ for an average of 50% rPET in plastic containers such as soft drink bottles
- screen 80% of supplier spend using responsible sourcing criteria.
Coca-Cola Amatil manufactures and distributes Coca-Cola brands in Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Samoa.