Campaigners cite plastic in the ocean as one of the major risks to marine life, with the US government’s Marine Debris Program saying ingestion can lead to ‘loss of nutrition, internal injury, intestinal blockage, starvation, and even death’.
That same year, it was estimated that 100,000 marine mammals and turtles and one million sea birds are killed by marine plastic pollution every year.
Donald Trump has claimed his move to scrap paper straws and return to plastic won’t harm the environment, as sharks can eat them.
Trump’s predecessor introduced the move in November last year with the aim of ‘protecting public health and the environment by reducing plastic pollution’.
Efforts to rid the world of plastic straws ramped up after David Attenborough’s documentary series Blue Planet II highlighted their impact in 2018.
