A South Korean government study published October 28, 2026 compared four straw types across 16 environmental impact categories. Conventional plastic performed better in 10, including climate change and human toxicity, and paper straws carried more than six times the carcinogenic impact of plastic. Paper's size and water-resistant coatings also make it hard to recycle. Coverage has settled on the same two findings, the 10-of-16 category split and paper's carcinogen gap, with no new disputes raised so far.