MechChem Africa June 2019

⎪ Innovative engineering ⎪

Stainless steel straw could see end of single use plastics sion resistant. Stainless steel is fundamental to the straw’s design, as it can be repeatedly and reliably sanitised due to its non-porous and corrosion-resistant properties. This al- lows for repeat cleaningwithout any physical impacts on the straw’s surface and gives it a resilient and stylish aesthetic.

As the backlash against plastic continues, the drinking straw is in drastic need of a redesign. Doesacollapsibleversionmadefromstainless steel hold the answer? Every day, billions of plastic drinking straws are discarded across the world. In the US alone, it’s estimated that upwards of 170-million drinking straws are used and thrown away daily. Over the past year, however, a public backlash against single-use plastic has started to gain global momentum, and it seems that the era of the plastic straw will soon be behind us. Sowhatwill replace it? FinalStraw is a startup based in Santa Barbara, California, and its founders believe they have the answer to this question: Anew, alternative straw product that makes use of steel’s physical and sustainable properties. The FinalStraw drinking straw is the world’s first collapsible metal straw and it’s built to last, withstanding up to two folds per day for 15 years. Because it’s collapsible, it’s carried easily in a pocket, handbag or as an attachment to car keys. It’s available in two colours, stainless or rainbow, and each one comes with a specially-designed cleaning sponge. Stainless-steel was chosen for the FinalStraw as it is strong, hygienic and corro-

Millennial entrepreneurs Emma Cohen and Miles Pepper came up with the idea, and their company FinalStraw, after mutual friends introduced them in October 2017. Both passionate about sustainability and conservation they had noticed that the metal straws on themarket at that timewere cumbersome to carry around. They believed that this was preventing a greater number of people from ditching single-use plastic straws in favour of a more environmentally responsible alternative. The pair hatched a plan to design and launch their own collapsible drinking straw that was small enough to take anywhere. In March 2018, they decided to launch a crowdfunding page on Kickstarter. Over the course of their 30-day campaign, Emma and Miles raised an astounding $1.89-million – and became part of a global sustainability movement that continues to gain pace. The first FinalStrawdrinking strawswere shipped

The FinalStraw drinking straw is the world’s first collapsible metal straw and it’s built to last, withstanding up to two folds per day for 15 years. Image_Final straw. out just eight months later. Steel is one of the more environmentally friendly metals to mine and is 100% recycla- ble. The entrepreneurs were keen to ensure all the choices they made were sustainable, which is why they chose recycled paper for the product packaging too. In 2019, under the parent company Final Co, theFinalStrawfounderswill releaseanew product line called Foreverables, intended to replace more single-use utensils. AWorldsteel Association story by Lauren Razavi

June 2019 • MechChem Africa ¦ 39