How Are Drinking Straws Manufactured?
A Powdery Mixture While most drinking straws are made out of food-grade polypropylene approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration, some drinking straws are being made out of bio resins. Instead of using a petroleum base, like bio diesel fuels, bio resins are plastics made from corn, wheat, tapioca or potatoes. Whatever base is used, the process of manufacturing drinking straws begins with mixing powdered resin with other powdered ingredients: pigment, plasticizers, anti-oxidants, stabilizers and fillers. Melted and Molded After the powder is fully mixed together, it is melted over heat. Next, like when you make pasta or sausage, the melted substance is pressed through an extruder and out a series of very small holes to produce long strings with a diameter of 0.125 inches. The hot strings are plunged into cold water to cool. When they harden, they get cut into small pellets. The pellets are inserted into a second extruder where a hot thin rod pushes through the center as
