Tim Hortons to eliminate plastic straws from restaurants in Canada over the next year

PHOTO: Jerry Huddleston/Flickr

TORONTO —Tim Hortons recently announced that the company is in the process of introducing paper straws in its 4,000 restaurants in Canada and plans to complete the transition from plastic by early 2021.

Almost 90 Tim Hortons restaurants in and near Vancouver have already eliminated the use of plastic straws. It’s estimated that the full transition to paper straws will eliminate around 300 million plastic straws from Tim Hortons restaurants in Canada over the next year.

“We take seriously our responsibility to help contribute to a cleaner Canada and we know our guests are eager to support us on our mission to reduce waste, encourage the use of reusable cups and dishes when it is safe to do so, and recycle and use recyclable materials,” said Hope Bagozzi, chief marketing officer, in a prepared statement.

Tim Hortons welcomed the federal government’s announcement on Oct. 7 detailing a plan to eliminate harmful single-use plastics. According to a company statement, Tim Hortons has already has identified a number of plastics as priorities to eliminate:

Plastic straws: Will be eliminated by early 2021, keeping around 300 million plastic straws from Tim Hortons restaurants in Canada over the next year
Plastic stir sticks: Already eliminated last year, with an estimated impact of eliminating 168 million pieces of plastic annually
Plastic bags: Use limited to bulk orders, already eliminated in locations including Vancouver, Victoria and Newfoundland and Labrador. Will be eliminated in all restaurants in 2021
Plastic cutlery: Testing of compostable cutlery is ongoing
Six-pack rings: Not used by Tim Hortons
Hard-to-recycle food containers: There is limited use of black plastic food containers at Tim Hortons for some catering orders.