Hold On to Your Milkshakes, Because McDonald’s Is Banning Plastic Straws UK McDonald’s have decided to take a step in reducing their environmental footprint by discontinuing the use of plastic straws. The plastic straws will be replaced with biodegradable paper straws. The trial of the new eco-friendly straws will begin in May at over 1,300 restaurants in the UK in an effort to honor the fast-food chain’s commitment to recycle their packaging materials in all of their 37,000 restaurants worldwide by 2025. To take it a step further, UK McDonald’s won’t automatically give the new paper straws to customers just because they order a drink or shake, straws will be held behind the counter and customers will have to request one. What do you think about drinking your McDonald’s shake from a biodegradable paper straw?