JD Wetherspoon is to stop using plastic straws by the end of this year, replacing them with biodegradable paper straws instead.
Plastic straws, like all plastic items, are incredibly damaging to the environment with a single straw taking 500 years to decompose.
The announcement follows All Bar One's commitment stated in June to phase out plastic straws.
The group, which has around 900 outlets across the UK and Ireland, said it will also stop automatically adding straws to drinks, 'although they remain available for customers if requested'.
In the interim, the company also plans to reduce plastic straw usage as, from today, staff will no longer automatically put a straw in pub-goers' drinks, though they will still be able to ask for one.
Chief executive John Hutson commented, 'These changes are part of an overall commitment from the company to reduce the amount of non-recyclable waste produced.'
