Starbucks is banning straws – but is it really a big win for the environment?

The coffee giant has announced that it is phasing out straws. But are the new lids it's introducing actually any better?

This month, Starbucks joined a growing movement to ban single-use plastic straws, announcing it would eliminate the items from its stores by 2020. In their place, the company will be introducing strawless lids, which have a sippable protrusion. It will also make alternative-material straws available.

Starbucks already has strawless lids available in more than 8,000 of its North American stores. These were developed for its "Nitro" coffee beverages which have a creamy top and are best drunk without a straw. Now, however, the coffee chain will be making the Nitro lids standard for all cold beverages, most of which now come with straws. Cold beverages make up more than 50% of Starbucks's beverage mix, an increase from 37% just five years ago.