It’s hard to imagine anyone listening to Donald Trump announcing his new policy on straws with a greater sense of glee than Ross Boyajian, the president of a business manufacturing plastic straws in Glendale, California.
Mr Boyajian, an Armenian-American, has owned Diamond Straws since 1995. His factory produces more than 800 straws a minute, supplying large US cafes and restaurants, including Peet’s Coffee and BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse.
Diamond Straws currently employs 15 people but is anticipating an uptick in business in the wake of President Trump’s executive order declaring that the US is “going back to plastic straws” and moving away from paper straws.
“It was one of our happiest days when I heard him say that,” says Mr Boyajian. “Our whole business completely switched. Previously everybody was worrying about ‘what are you doing in this business, you’re going to be out of business because nobody is buying plastic straws’. So thank you, Trump.”
Cardboard boxes emblazoned with “made in USA” are stacked around the factory. It is just one of a handful of factories remaining in the US manufacturing plastic straws after much of the industry moved abroad to China.
Mr Trump has repeatedly railed against paper straws. His 2019 reelection campaign sold Trump-branded reusable plastic straws. His executive order will reverse a Biden administration policy to phase out government purchases of plastic straws, as well as plastic cutlery and packaging by 2027.
Environmentalists have long been concerned about the use of plastic straws, although they say the issue is much bigger than straws alone.
Dianna Cohen is a co-founder of Plastic Pollution Coalition, whose work involves educating people on the effect of plastic on the environment and the human body.
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“It’s not the item, it’s single-use plastics,” she says. “We need to really pay attention to reducing and moving away from using that material. Using plastic to eat and drink all of our foods is bad for our health and the health of our children.
“Plastic is polluting all of us and our bodies,” she adds.
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“It’s been linked to a number of different health issues, including fertility issues. Microplastics have been found in our brains and in testicles and placenta.”
