And order - Ending Procurement and Forced Use of Paper Straws - seeks a return to plastic straws. Paper straws, which many people hate, have become a symbol of virtue signaling with little environmental impact. Image: Wongsakorn 2468/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffThe GSA has moved to set “minimum performance requirements” for drinking straws to be procured by federal agencies or provided for use in agency facilities under contract, specifying that they must “have the strength and durability of plastic straws,” including comparable “compressive strength.”
A notice in the July 21 Federal Register follows the February posting by GSA of several “deviations” in the FAR to comply with Trump administration executive orders that revoked various Biden administration directives affecting contract awards. One of those, titled Ending Procurement and Forced Use of Paper Straws, barred further procurement of paper drinking straws by federal agencies in favor of plastic straws, and ordered creation of a National Strategy to End the Use of Paper Straws.
Says the notice, “As part of these efforts, the FAR should be updated to include a performance requirement that beverage straws procured and used under federal contracts have the strength and durability of plastic straws and a provision that requires all government contractors to represent that they do not use paper straws or penalize the use of plastic.”
The notice notes that the USDA’s BioPreferred Program requires agencies to “procure sustainable products and services to the maximum extent practicable” and establishes minimum biobased content standards for certain products, including paper straws. However, that does not apply where a biobased product fails to meet performance standards or is not cost effective, it says.
The notice says paper straws are “significantly” more expensive—although it does not specify costs—and cites a study concluding that common paper straws “experienced a 70 to 90 percent reduction in compressive strength” after 30 minutes of exposure to liquid. “As a result, use of paper straws does not achieve the expected level of satisfaction or happiness (utility) an individual should receive from consuming their beverage,” it says.
It adds that the policy will not apply contracts not issued by using the FAR, such as concession contracts at national parks.
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