Boss Straw touts its product as the “best, earth-friendly paper straw in the world.” But since February, sales have plummeted 85% at the paper straw maker in Woodstock. Nearly 14 million paper straws are sitting in limbo at Boss’ warehouse, about 1½ hours from Chicago.
President Donald Trump issued an executive order “to end the use of paper straws” on Feb. 10 and barred federal agencies from procuring them. Following Trump’s mandate, many U.S. distributors have stopped ordering paper straws even for the private sector and reverted to plastic, said Guy Spinelli, founder of Boss Straw.
“If it keeps up the way it is, [Trump] will drive me out of business by the end of this year,” said Spinelli. “It would be the end of the story.”
If the company shutters, Spinelli would lose $2 million he invested on equipment and prototype development.
“I’m not a billionaire like [Trump]. Two million dollars is a lot of money for me,” he said. “Us little guys, who he claims he’s for — he should be proud of us.”
Spinelli, 75, founded Boss Straw in 2022 after starting in the paper industry in 1979 and working in sales and research and development roles. Boss Straw sold $800,000 worth of biodegradable paper straws last year, buoyed by momentum to phase out single-use plastic from federal and local governments, restaurants and other industries, as well as to consumers.
A Chicago ordinance in effect from January 2022 requires food businesses to provide single-use foodware only upon request. However, the law isn’t always enforced. In Illinois, as of January, the Large Event Facilities Act requires convention centers, sports stadiums and other spaces to set up recycling and composting bins in order to reduce single-use plastic and food scrap waste.
Boss Straw products were previously used in more than 1,000 restaurants, bars, coffee shops and casinos across the country, said Spinelli. But sinceTrump’s executive order, distributors have shied away from them. Boss Straw previously had nine employees but cut back to five by early April after production ground to a halt.
The move by Trump — who has long railed against paper straws, and whose 2019 reelection campaign sold Trump-branded reusable plastic straws for $15 per pack of 10 — targets a Biden administration policy to phase out federal purchases of single-use plastics, including straws, from food service operations, events and packaging by 2027 and from all federal operations by 2035.
Paper straws have become an unlikely target of culture wars in recent years. Trump’s executive order said they are favored by “woke activists who prioritize symbolism over science.”
According to his executive order, paper straws are “nonfunctional, use chemicals that may carry risks to human health, are more expensive to produce than plastic straws and often force users to use multiple straws.” As he signed the order in the White House in February, Trump said, “On occasion they break, they explode. … We’re going back to plastic straws.”
Spinelli is proud of his company’s straws, which he guarantees can last 24 hours in hot or cold drinks. He started the company determined to make a better product than the flimsy ones that fall apart quickly in liquid.
Environmental sustainability was also a reason Spinelli started Boss Straws.
More than 390 million plastic straws are used daily in the U.S., mostly for 30 minutes or less, according to advocacy group Turtle Island Restoration Network. Plastic straws take at least 200 years to decompose and pose a threat to turtles and other wildlife as they degrade into microplastics, the group said. Every year, the world produces more than 400 million tons of new plastic. About 40% of all plastics are used in packaging, according to the United Nations.
Plastic straws end up in landfills, waterways and streets, and plastic waste in oceans harms sea life, said Spinelli. There are also health reasons to avoid them since they’re made of petroleum products, he added.
Tariffs haven’t had a big impact on Boss Straws because it uses materials from paper mills in Ohio, Texas and New Hampshire. Its straw wrappers are made in Taiwan, and equipment is from Germany and France.
Spinelli voted for Trump and supports his tariff policies.
“We got to get China out of this marketplace because they’re ruining the world,” he said. “I don’t want anything from China. They’re the worst thieves in the world.”
He also supports the president’s goal of tightening U.S. borders and “getting illegal immigrants out of the country,” he said. “The things he has done are exactly what he campaigned on.”
But Spinelli takes issue with Trump saying that “all paper straws stink, that they all fall apart” on national TV news networks.
“What do you think that does to a paper straw company? It cripples us because the president said it,” he said.
Spinelli is also frustrated that Trump has not responded to 25 emails and 10 letters asking him to try straws from his company. He has mailed boxes of them to the White House so the president can try them himself.
“I understand your executive order allowing a return to plastic straws, and I fully support the right to choose,” Spinelli wrote in an open letter to Trump. “But as a leader who has championed small businesses and American manufacturing, I urge you to put my straws to the test.”
So far Trump has not responded.
Contributing: AP