Businesses on Fort Myers Beach will once again be allowed to use plastic straws - as long as they are marine biodegradable, following the passage of a new ordinance by the Town of Fort Myers Beach Council. / Photo by Nathan Mayberg

The Town of Fort Myers Beach Council, which voted to ban plastic straws in 2017 at restaurants, will now allow marine biodegradable plastic straws while also requiring paper straws to be marine biodegradable.

The town council approved the new straws unanimously on Monday. Councilmember Bill Veach moved to allow existing restaurants to continue using their existing inventory of paper straws even if they are not considered marine biodegradable. Veach said he wanted to put businesses “at ease” in order not to cause businesses which had already purchased paper straws to have to burn through inventory they had already purchased.

The new ordinance, in effect, will allow for flexibility for businesses to switch over to marine biodegradable paper straws while also allowing them to purchase plastic marine biodegradable straws at an unfixed date.

Petroleum-based straws were banned from distribution on Fort Myers Beach in 2017 “due to their persistence to remain in the environment with deleterious effects on wildlife and the quality of life of the Town’s residents,” according to the resolution behind the ordinance.

“The biodegradable plastic straws have become a preferred straw for distribution in a number of Fort Myers Beach businesses. Currently, plastic straws are prohibited, regardless of whether they are biodegradable. This amendment to the prohibition of plastic straws would give Fort Myers Beach businesses an environmentally friendly alternative to petroleum-based plastic straws and paper-based straws,” the resolution stated.

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