Disney Announces Plans to Eliminate Plastic Bags, Straws and Stirrers

The Walt Disney Company announced Thursday its plans to eliminate single-use plastic straws and plastic stirrers across all Disney-owned and operated locations across the globe, amounting to a reduction of more than 175 million straws and 13 million stirrers annually. Disney aims to reach the goal by 2019.

In the next few years, the company will transition to refillable in-room amenities in their numerous hotels and cruise ships, reducing plastics in guest rooms by 80 percent. Disney Parks will further reduce the number of plastic shopping bags in both their cruise lines and resorts across the globe, offering guests the option to instead purchase reusable bags at a nominal price.

Also headed for extinction are polystyrene cups across Disney's global businesses. The steps continue Disney's long-term effort to reduce single-use plastics as the company remains committed to recycling and responsibly disposing single-use waste that can't be eliminated.

"Eliminating plastic straws and other plastic items are meaningful steps in our long-standing commitment to environmental stewardship," said Bob Chapek, Chairman, Disney Parks, Experiences, and Consumer Products. "These new global efforts help reduce our environmental footprint, and advance our long-term sustainability goals."

"Disney has always been inspired by nature – and it is a uniquely powerful brand that inspires, educates, and entertains, all at the same time," said Dr. M. Sanjayan, CEO of Conservation International.

"Today's announcement is more than about reducing single-use plastic waste, it's also about showing millions of kids and adults from around the world the many ways we can change our daily habits to care for the oceans and protect nature that sustains us all. It also builds on Disney's longstanding commitment to conservation and environmental stewardship, a legacy that stretches from the highlands of Peru to the islands of the South Pacific."

"At Disney, our commitment to environmental stewardship focuses on using resources wisely as we operate and grow our business," reads the environmental section of The Walt Disney Company website. "We also provide philanthropic grants and expertise to save wildlife, inspire action, and protect the planet."

Disney has maintained a commitment to planet conservation for more than 60 years, including directing more than $70 million from the Disney Conservation Fund to protect wildlife and wild places.

The company has already reduced net emissions by 41% in 2017; by 2020, Disney aims to reduce emissions by 50%. Similarly, Disney diverted 46% of waste from landfills and incineration in 2017, and hopes to divert 50% of waste by 2020.

As Disney works to reduce single-use plastics — doing away with plastic straws, stirrers, in-room plastics, plastic shopping bags, and polystyrene cups — other mega-companies have introduced similar efforts to decrease their environmental footprint: both McDonalds and Starbucks announced in recent weeks they'll be ditching plastic straws.