Paper Straws May Do More Harm Than Good, South Korean Study Suggests

Paper straws have long been marketed as the environmentally friendly alternative to plastic. But a South Korean government-commissioned assessment suggests they may carry a greater pollution-related health burden on one measure.

South Korea's Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment commissioned the life cycle assessment from the Korean Society for Life Cycle Assessment, according to news reports.

Researchers compared how paper, plastic and other disposable straws could affect human health and the environment, from production through disposal.

The assessment compared four straw types: paper, conventional plastic, biodegradable plastic and bio-based polyethylene, or bio-PE.

Paper straws scored 6.33 times as high as conventional plastic straws in an estimate of cancer-related harm from pollution generated during production and disposal, according to the South Korean reports.

The researchers noted, however, that the score estimates potential harm from pollution generated from production through disposal — not chemical exposure or cancer risk from drinking through a straw.

Researchers assessed 16 environmental impacts, assuming about 74 percent of discarded straws were incinerated and 26 percent went to landfills, based on South Korean waste statistics.

Conventional plastic straws performed best in 10 of the 16 environmental categories, but no straw type came out ahead in every category.

The study did not measure whether chemicals leach from straws into drinks, and it did not assess health outcomes among people who use them.

According to The Korea Herald, the researchers recommended that stores provide disposable straws only upon request.

Lawmaker Kim Wi-sang, whose office received the report, later criticised plastic straw restrictions, arguing that the alternatives had failed to deliver their promised environmental benefits.

US President Donald Trump has also criticised paper straws. In February 2025 he signed an executive order directing federal agencies to stop buying and providing paper straws and to develop a national strategy to end their use. Trump had previously said he was tired of having straws melt in his mouth.

A 2023 University of Antwerp study had detected PFAS, or 'forever chemicals', in 27 of 39 straw brands tested, most often in paper straws. The researchers stress that the new findings do not prove that drinking through a paper straw increases a person's cancer risk.