In August 2018, South Korea began a trial ban on plastics such as disposable plastic cups.
South Korea’s ban on plastics directly gave birth to a unique and creative edible “rice straw.” The rice straw is made of 70% rice and 30% cassava. It not only retains the smoothness and hardness of white rice, but also has the toughness and foam resistance of cassava. It can be soaked in hot drinks for 2-3 hours without becoming soft, and it lasts longer in cold drinks, up to 10 hours.
The rice straws are produced through automation and large-scale production. The wholesale price of a single straw has been reduced to 1.5 yen, and the monthly output has reached 300 million. Even if the rice straw is not eaten on site, it will only take three months to degrade naturally after being discarded, instead of waiting hundreds of years like a plastic straw.
Moreover, many restaurants are concerned about the cost problem, this kind of straws is also well solved: through automation and large-scale production, the single wholesale price has been reduced to RMB 9 cents, and the monthly output has increased to about 300 million. Supply to coffee shops and hotels in Korea.
