Every so often, a new packaging item ends up with a bull’s-eye on its back. One year it’s plastic bags. The next year, it’s paper bags. Ironically, it’s rarely the reusable bag that gets the same attention – despite the average Canadian owning 23 of them, which might even seem low when you open your closet or trunk and see the ever-growing stockpile of reusable bags (often made of plastic, typically not recyclable, and slow to decompose).

Most recently, straws – paper or plastic – have taken centre stage. Whether it’s the U.S. Administration’s National Strategy to End the Use of Paper Straws, or promises to bring back plastic straws made during Canada’s recent federal election by the now Official Opposition, straws are making headlines.

As Canadian Packaging’s George Guidoni recently wrote, “getting bogged down in the pros and cons of paper straws hardly seems like the right place to start.”

And he’s absolutely right.

This is not about straws.

PPEC’s latest blog explores what the straw symbolizes in broader conversations about packaging and consumption — adding context to help shift the conversation toward more thoughtful, systems-based thinking about packaging sustainability.

The straw is a symbol — of our consumption habits, of packaging in general, and of the need for shared responsibility among consumers, businesses, policymakers, and everyone along the recycling and waste management value chain. It represents the broader challenge of finding effective, scalable solutions to reduce waste, promote sustainability, and design packaging that can be recycled.

But none of that is simple.

Because packaging is complicated.

While it’s easier to target a single item, like a straw or a bag, we need to zoom out and look at the bigger picture. Any conversation about packaging must include context — this isn’t just about one item or one material.

Today’s packaging is far more complex than it was decades ago. Modern lifestyles that prioritize convenience — from takeout and delivery services to pre-packaged produce and meal kits — have created a culture of on-the-go consumption that demands more packaging. But with that convenience comes trade-offs: packaging is now made from a wider variety of materials, including multi-material combinations that can be harder to recycle.

And those changes have domino effects across the recycling and recovery system.

Can it be recycled? And are consumers actually recycling it?

Is the infrastructure there to collect, sort, and process it?

Are there viable end markets available so those materials can be sold and reused?

Fixating on a single item or material misses the point. If we’re serious about sustainability, we need to zoom out. Sustainability isn’t one-dimensional. It requires context and can’t be assessed through a single lens. Packaging function, consumer behavior, recycling access, infrastructure, material inputs, and viable and strong end markets for materials all matter.

One item isn’t the villain. Oversimplification is.

What we need are coordinated, evidence-based strategies that reflect this complexity — and that support infrastructure, innovation, education, and shared responsibility across the system.

That includes recognizing the value of renewable and recyclable materials like paper packaging, which already benefit from widespread access to recycling and established end markets that enable the reuse of recycled fibres.

It’s also clear that consumers want convenience — but there are trade-offs in the decisions we make as a society. We all make choices when we shop, just as we make choices in how we manage our waste. Context matters. Education matters. So does the bigger picture: how we consume, how our waste is managed, and how systems can be improved to reduce what ends up in landfills.

Let’s reframe the conversation from pitting materials and items against each other to outcomes that reflect the real world.

Because it was never just about the straws.

We all have a role to play — as businesses, consumers, and governments — in minimizing waste and shaping smarter, more sustainable packaging systems for the future.