Biodegradable drinking straws made from rye grain stalks left after harvest

Rye drinking straws made from the stalks left over after rye grain harvest. (ABC News)

There is a growing demand for biodegradable or reusable straws as some governments around the world legislate to reduce single-use plastics including plastic drinking straws.

Straws made from the hollow stems of wheat, rice and bamboo are already available in Australia, but are imported from overseas. Marion Vigot and Alexis Branlard aim to supply Australian biodegradable straws made from the strong, hollow stems of rye for the Australian market. They hope to produce 1 million straws from the first harvest and have formed the start-up company called Mister Rye based in Adelaide. South Australia is to ban single-use plastics next year and they are hoping to offer these rye straws as one of the alternatives.

One hectare of rye can produce 300,000 straws, so they only need a few hectares to make a million. They have formed arrangements with two organic rye farmers to do this. After harvesting the rye grain, the rye stalks are gently harvested and rolled into small bales by a vintage 1950’s hay baler. Then the straws are selected from between the nodes and hand cut by a team of workers. Marion and Alexis are hoping to mechanise this latter process. The straws are available online from Mister Rye at: https://www.misterrye.com/ 

For more information: 

- “Recycled rye straws an option to help environment and farmers in war on single-use plastics.” ABC News, October 11, 2019. 

– Also featured on Landline, 08/03/20, and available on iView for awhile: https://iview.abc.net.au/show/landline/series/0/video/RF1904Q006S00