American Airlines joined Starbucks and Hyatt announcing that they are phasing out the use of plastic straws globally. Plenty of companies in countries like the U.K. and Taiwan, such as McDonald’s and Marriott International — which just announced an initiative to eliminate plastic straws worldwide — are ahead of their counterparts in the U.S. in terms of reducing their reliance on plastic.

So while those who announced this week are not the first to pledge giving up plastic straws, they’re certainly the biggest name brands in the U.S.

For an international company like Starbucks, phasing out single-use plastic straws from its more than 28,000 stores around the world will eliminate the use of 1 billion straws every single year. The coffee giant is replacing straws with newly designed recyclable lids that will “become standard on most iced drinks,” according to a press release from the company. It’s a big deal given 50% of Starbucks sales in 2017 came from cold beverages, a 13% increase from five years ago.

The new lids are already being used for some Starbucks drinks in 8,000 stores in the U.S. and Canada. While the new lids will still be made of plastic, they will be comprised of polypropylene, which “can be widely recycled,” according to the company.

Starbucks announced via Twitter that they will no longer using plastic straw globally in 2020.

(Read full article: TIME)