BEVERAGE ISSUE
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WinCup Combats Plastic Pollution One Straw at a Time with their Biodegradable phade® Brand
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n 2015, a disturbing video showing a sea turtle with a straw stuck in its nose went viral, marking what many consider a turning point for awareness and alarm of global plastic pollution. It also marked a turning point for the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association member and foodservice product manufacturer, WinCup. A straw had become a symbol of plastic pollution, and the company was
bacteria is present. A time lapse video from 2021 conducted in a marine environment showed phade completely biodegrading in just 58 days! That is a tremendous advantage for coastal states like Florida. In fact, WinCup officials often refer to phade® as being “made in Florida, for Florida.” With the company’s primary manufacturing facility for phade® located in Jacksonville, bars and restaurants across the state are increasingly
“With phade®, we have developed a straw that not only naturally and safely breaks down after use, but also creates a great end-user experience. This combination is especially important in Florida where protecting the natural environment is critical, but also where millions of travelers come to relax on the beach with their favorite beverage. Now there’s a straw that consumers can feel good about, both from a user experience and sustainability perspective.”
PHOTO COURTESY OF PHADE
— Michael Winters, WinCup’s Chief Revenue Officer.
determined to show how a straw, through innovation, could also demonstrate a desperately needed solution. The result is a pioneering brand of straws and stirrers, uniquely blue in color, called “phade®” that biodegrades in a matter of months. The key to the phade® straws’ remarkably sustainable properties is a naturally occurring biopolymer created from fermented canola oil called polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA). While petroleum-based plastics take hundreds of years to degrade, phade® will break down within months in most environments where FRL A .org
turning to the straw because of its sustainable properties and the fact that consumers prefer them over soggy paper straws. “With phade®, we have developed a straw that not only naturally and safely breaks down after use, but also creates a great end-user experience,” said Michael Winters, WinCup’s Chief Revenue Officer. “This combination is especially important in Florida where protecting the natural environment is critical, but also where millions of travelers come to relax on the beach with their favorite beverage. Now there’s a straw that consumers can feel good about, both from a user experience and sustainability perspective.” New technologies, like the development of PHA, will play a major role in solving global plastics challenges in Florida and beyond. In fact, leading scientific bodies like the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine insist that a multifaceted approach is needed to reduce ocean plastic pollution, including the development of innovative new plastic substitutes, like phade®. WinCup suggests that the focus on innovation to address global plastic pollution provides a fourth “R” in the environmental mantra of “reduce, reuse, recycle,” and that’s to “replace” harmful petroleum-based plastic products with innovative bio-based alternatives. Global plastic production is predicted to quadruple by 2050, so replacing petroleum-based plastic with PHA is an innovative tool to add to the toolbox. “To meaningfully combat plastic pollution will require many different tactics,” Winters added. “WinCup is extremely proud to play a role through the development of innovative solutions like phade®. If we can do it with a straw, the possibilities are endless.” FLORIDA RESTAUR ANT & LOD GING
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