ASIA PACIFIC. Ever Rich Duty Free hopes to prevent a million plastic straws a year heading to waste as it adopts environmentally-friendly paper straws across all of its F&B outlets.
The move impacts cafes and restaurants at four airports operated by Ever Rich Duty Free as well as those at downtown locations.
“Taiwan is an island, therefore a clean ocean and healthy marine ecology is vital for us,” Ever Rich Duty Free said in a statement.
“Since the end of June, all coffee shops and restaurants operated by Ever Rich have started to adopt environmentally-friendly paper straws, whether you are eating in or taking away.”
Ever Rich Duty Free took action ahead of the country’s Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) enforced plastic straw policy.
The leading travel retailer has a long history of championing environmental protection, and employees have volunteered to conduct more than 100 beach, mountain, and lake cleaning operations. Ocean plastic was identified as their number-one environmental concern.
Ever Rich Duty Free has opted for paper straws certified by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and sustainability specialists SGS which are 100% biodegradable.
Airport F&B outlets taking part in the green initiative include Illy Café, Homee Kitchen, Bistro:D (Taoyuan International Airport T1); Jamba Juice, KIKI noodle bar, Wing Café, Hung’s Delicacies (Taoyuan International Airport T2); Homee Kitchen, Wing Café (Taipei Songshan Airport); Homee Kitchen (Taichung Airport and Kaohsiung International Airport).