[Economy pick] "I don't like paper straws".Let's go back to plastic.

[Anchor]
It's time for Economic Pick, which kindly solves economic issues.

Reporter Hwang Bo Hye-kyung is here. Welcome.

Let's start with the first topic.

"I don't like paper straws"...Back to plastic

What product are you talking about?

[Reporter]
It is a pack juice product from a German beverage brand.

It's probably a familiar product for families raising children,
It is a method of drinking by inserting a straw attached to the
product.

Nongshim, a food company, is in charge of production and distribution of domestic sales,
Nongshim changed this straw from plastic to paper in February last year.

At the time, Nongshim expected the replacement of straws to reduce plastic use by 30 tons a year.

However, we decided to go back to plastic straws from next month.

It's been about a year and eight months since we introduced paper straws.

[Anchor]
Why is it returning to plastic straws?

[Reporter]
First of all, it's because of consumer complaints about paper straws.

An official of the Nongshim said, "Since the introduction of paper straws, complaints have been received that the straw is uncomfortable because it cannot penetrate the packaging material well, and that it becomes mushy as it is used."

There are also many consumers who hate the unique smell of paper straws.

Let's hear your voice.

[Kim Eun-seo / Deokgye-dong, Yangju-si, Gyeonggi-do: When I asked this, I thought it felt like a foreign substance or smelled less than a plastic straw.]

Nongshim said it has been trying to improve the quality of paper straws, but it is an inevitable measure considering consumer convenience, saying that consumer complaints continued.

The decline in sales, which maintained 9 million boxes each year, also affected the return of plastic straws.

Sales of pack juice products fell 13% last year from a year ago, followed by 16% in the third quarter of this year from the same period last year.

[Anchor]
The introduction of eco-friendly packaging materials is being expanded by global companies.

In line with this trend, our government once banned the use of plastic straws, right?

[Reporter]
Starbucks has been using paper straws since 2018.

At that time, Starbucks Korea was the first in the world to introduce it.

McDonald's said it has introduced plastic lids that do not require straws, collected them, and reused them as employee uniforms.

In November last year, the Korean government announced a policy to ban the use of disposable products in stores, but a year later, it suspended them indefinitely and effectively withdrew regulations.

As a result, companies sometimes reverse packaging policies based on consumer reactions, as in the case of Nongshim.

However, there are also studies showing that the coating liquid used in paper straws adversely affects the environment, so opinions on the use of paper straws are divided.