Wagamama has become the latest restaurant chain to commit to end the use of plastic straws.

From Earth Day on 22 April, the Asian food chain will switch to a biodegradable paper alternative, which will be available on request.

In the meantime, it has stopped automatically giving customers a straw and is only handing them out when asked or with juices that need stirring.

The decision follows Theresa May’s pledge to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste within 25 years as part of the government’s environmental strategy and comes on the heels of Iceland’s decision to eliminate plastic on all own-brand products in its supermarkets within five years.



While the move was welcomed by campaigners, some questioned whether the chain was going far enough.



John Read, the founder of Clean Up Britain, told the Guardian: “Wagamama’s deserves genuine credit for banning straws. However, in the wider scheme of things, it’s a modest move in comparison to Iceland’s bold and ground-breaking decision to remove own-brand plastic packaging by 2023.

“That has moved the bar to a new and welcome level.”

The Friends of the Earth waste campaigner Julian Kirby said he hoped other restaurants would follow suit.

He said: “This is a significant step in the right direction, but we need far bigger strides from government, industry and retailers to properly tackle the scourge of plastic waste and its impact on our environment.”

Wagamama’s chief executive, Jane Holbrook, said she was “personally passionate” about creating a sustainable relationship between the environment and the brand.



She said: “At Wagamama, we are constantly looking to make improvements and reducing the amount of non-recyclable waste we produce is one example of our kaizen (good change) philosophy in action.”

Wagamama is not the only chain to turn its back on plastic straws. Last year, JD Wetherspoon announced it had stopped automatically putting straws in drinks and would offer paper straws in its 900 pubs instead.

The designer Vivienne Westwood recently backed the online campaign Refuse the Straw, calling on people to reject straws and drink from the glass.