Photo/Illutration Children drink from paper milk cartons on March 17 at Daishi Elementary School in Kochi. (Kazunori Haga)

Strawless milk containers for school meals were met with skepticism from teachers in Kochi Prefecture fearing spills and ill-manners among children.

But such concerns proved unfounded.

Joining the global movement to reduce plastic and protect the environment, Japanese dairy manufacturers are now mass-producing strawless milk containers.

Of the 1.7 billion milk containers provided for school meals nationwide a year, 1.4 billion are made of paper.

And of them, straw-free ones accounted for 25 percent in April, representing a reduction of plastic use by an estimated 175 tons annually.

Nippon Paper Industries Co. developed straw-free milk containers in 2020.

The company in 2019 considered using paper-derived straws for the cartons, but that plan proved too expensive.

“We started with reviewing whether straws are really essential,” said Junichi Masuda, deputy manager of the company’s paper carton sales headquarters.

Masuda said they realized that students did not need straws to drink from the gable-top containers in school meals.

To improve the roof-shaped cartons, Nippon Paper Industries changed the gluing of the aperture section to make it easier to open. Folds were added to the containers to ensure smooth drinking.

Nippon Paper Industries then commissioned a manufacturer to produce the straw-free carton.

Himawari Nyugyo in Kochi Prefecture became the first dairy company nationwide to handle the strawless milk product in January 2021. It now distributes them to 70 percent of elementary and junior high schools in the prefecture.

Bunjiro Yoshizawa, president of Himawari Nyugyo, said he had believed the dietary programs at schools should quickly shift from plastic, given the growing environmental concerns about plastic straws.

Still, Yoshizawa acknowledged he initially could not imagine straws being eliminated from milk cartons.

Some school staff members criticized the style of drinking straight from the carton as “constituting bad manners.”

Yoshizawa gained their understanding by stressing the eco-friendly effects.

“Most people have gotten used to drinking straight from plastic bottles,” Yoshizawa said. “The same thing will happen with paper cartons, too.”

Children at Kochi city-run Daishi Elementary School drink milk from 200-milliliter containers without straws.

“We were initially worried that they would spill their milk, but the children seem to have quickly become accustomed to the style,” said Hiroko Minami, the assistant principal of the school.

Tomoka Nishimura, a fourth-grader, explained another appeal of the cartons.

“With a straw, only a little milk enters the mouth, and I cannot taste it properly,” she said. “But when I drink straight from the container, I can gulp a lot all at once. It smells and tastes much better.”

According to Nippon Paper Industries data, its straw-free solution was used in areas of 13 prefectures, such as Tokyo, Hyogo and Fukuoka, in fiscal 2022, eliminating 200 million plastic straws on an annual basis.

Parts of Kanagawa and Osaka prefectures started using the product in fiscal 2023.

Related News