Borgata To Go Strawless On Heels Of Starbucks Announcement
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ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (CBS) -- On the heels of Starbucks announcing they will be ditching straws, MGM Resorts International announced Monday that their resorts are also going strawless, including the Borgata in Atlantic City.
MGM Resorts says single-use plastic straws will only be served upon request.
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"The elimination of plastic straws is the latest addition to MGM's comprehensive environmental responsibility program and can further enhance our efforts to protect our planet," said Cindy Ortega, the senior vice president and chief sustainability officer at MGM Resorts International.
MGM is hoping their initiative helps remove more than 250,000 straws a day from landfills and waterways -- up to 100 million straws each year.
Starbucks will eliminate plastic straws from all of its locations within two years.
Other cities, like Fort Myers Beach in Florida, have banned plastic straws, and similar proposals are being considered in New York and San Francisco. The push to ban the straws gained traction after a viral video in 2015 showed rescuers removing a straw from a sea turtle's nose in graphic detail.
The issue of waste more broadly is coming up in company boardrooms.
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In February, Dunkin' Donuts said it would eliminate polystyrene foam cups from its stores by 2020.
McDonald's said it would switch to paper straws in the United Kingdom and Ireland by next year and test alternatives to plastic straws in some U.S. locations. The burger chain also said this year it would use only recycled or other environmentally friendly materials for its soda cups, Happy Meal boxes and other packaging by 2025.
(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
