Limerickman sees writing on the wall for single-use plastic as bans introduced in parts of US and Australia.
It is the last straw for single use plastic, according to Limerickman Brian O’Callaghan, who has launched a company selling environmentally friendly straws.
EcoStraws sells reusable straws made from materials including stainless steel, glass, bamboo and silicone as well as 100% biodegradable disposable straws made from paper and polyactic acid and edible straws made from pasta, maize starch and gelatin.
O’Callaghan said he was inspired to launch the company with his running buddies Sarah Keyes and Anthony Egan after the three of them attended the National Geographic Symphony for our World in September. The performance, by the National Symphony Orchestra at its European debut in Limerick, shared footage of animal and marine life. The company officially launched in November, which was a quick turnaround.
“I had a lot of research done before the performance, but that was the icing on the cake for us coming together as a team,” O’Callaghan said.
While running Scoby’s Bar in Hospital, Co Limerick, he was paying attention to the banning of single-use plastics in California and some states in Australia, and he knew it would be introduced in the European Union soon.
This month, the EU agreed on laws that would ban the use of several single-use plastics, including straws. Once the ban is formally approved by member states, countries will have two years to implement it.
“We aim to shop as local as possible. All of our packaging is coming from Limerick,” O’Callaghan said. “But the straws aren’t being manufactured in Ireland yet. The edible straws are from Barcelona. The pasta straws are from Italy. The rest are coming from Asia.”
The company has targeted three markets: personal, retail and wholesale. It focused on personal sales in the lead-up to Christmas.
In 2019, it will focus on retail and wholesale. Some of its products are already being used in hotels and cafés in Limerick. And it is in talks with a nationwide retailer which O’Callaghan said would give the company “huge exposure”.
