GILBERT, Ariz. - Americans use 500 million drinking straws a day and scientist say that’s causing a lot of pollution in the environment. Micro plastics get into everything from our drinking water, the food supply and ultimately our bodies.
Now a company in Gilbert called Footprint says they have a solution, an environmentally friendly paper straw. CEO Troy Swope came up with the idea of Footprint with co-workers from Intel.
“It was quite a long time ago with my partner from Intel we were developing materials technology and we saw huge environmental wins really from driving cost savings programs. Then I went to him and said I think this whole sustainability program is really going to take off. Let’s use our engineering discipline here to solve world problems," said Swope.
The push to eliminate drinking straws really grew in momentum when a video was released on YouTube showing a sea turtle having a straw removed from its nostril. Now companies like Starbucks, American Airlines and Disney are leading the charge to eliminate them. That’s where a company like Footprint fills that paper straw void.
“At the core of the core of Footprint is we help customers eliminate plastics out of their packaging. The straws are really an extension of our business. We also produce the bowl for Healthy Choice Power Bowls. We were able to eliminate plastics for the product and it’s oven safe, microwave safe, water resistant and oil resistant,” said Jeff Basset, VP of Marketing at Footprint.
Footprint has factories in South Carolina, Mexico and China delivering products environmentally friendly products throughout the world. Much of their product base involves materials that wrap around electronics. Their business really grew when there was a real push to eliminate styrofoam in the electronics industry. "We really grew at that point quite a bit and it allowed us to move into different spaces," said Basset.
Once up and running at full capacity the company plans on making 27-million straws per day at their facility in Gilbert. The plant will employ up to 600 people when fulling operational. “We’ll be delivering products in October. We have development line here. We’re just dialing in the technology. And dialing in the recipe for North America and it’s going to drastically improve the product,” said Swope.
Swope has been in talks with many large companies that will utilize paper straws. He couldn’t tell us exactly who at this point but they’re names that most people know. He says if Footprint can create jobs, help the environment and contribute to the Gilbert community it’s a win for everyone.
“It’s exciting to see this come together and we can’t wait for the future,” said Swope.