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Starbucks has announced that it will stop handing out single-use plastic straws at its 28,000 stores around the world.

The company says it will design a 'strawless lid' or find an alternative material to use by 2020.

The US company claim the move will mean one billion fewer straws are handed out. One billion!

However, straws are only part of the problem.

Takeaway coffee cups aren't easy to recycle - they contain a mixture of paper and plastic and have to go to a specialist recycling plant to be recycled.

In 2011, it was estimated that 2.5 billion coffee cups were thrown away each year and that figure is likely to be higher now, according to the ���˿���'s Reality Check Team.

Some of the biggest sellers of coffee in the UK, including Costa and Starbucks, say they have started recycling coffee cups, but that's only if customers dispose of their takeaway cups in store.

Starbucks are trialling a 5p charge for customers who use a paper cup, rather than bring a reusable cup. The company plans to roll this out to every store in the UK.

What do you think about companies banning plastic straws? Let us know in the comments below.