Apparel group’s food and beverage brands replace plastic straws in restaurants

Apparel group’s food and beverage brands have begun replacing plastic straws with paper straws across its restaurants, cafes and home delivery services. This move will divert around one million plastic straws from the UAE landfill sites and the ocean each year.

Cold Stone Creamery, Jamie Oliver’s Pizzeria, Molten Chocolate Cafe, NYC PIZZA have already replaced plastic with paper straws in the UAE. Plastic straws are harmful to the environment because they do not biodegrade, instead it slowly breaks into micro plastics, which is commonly mistaken for food by sea animals. More than one million seabirds worldwide die every year from choking on plastic straws.

"Removing plastic straws is a step towards saving planet earth. Through elimination of single-use plastic, our mission is to continue to explore biodegradable and lasting sustainable solutions for our businesses and make a difference.” said Sima Ganwani Ved, founder and chairwoman, Apparel group.

In 2019, Apparel group replaced 10 million single-use plastic shopping bags across 1,750 stores with reusable, recyclable, and biodegradable alternatives. In addition, the group also diverts returned and damaged inventory from landfill by partnering up with recyclers that repurpose the products and use it in different industries as part of the circular economy.

In an effort to reduce its carbon footprint, Apparel Group utilises solar energy for its headquarters and warehouses in Jebel Ali, which recently received the LEED Platinum certificate.