Paper straws are made by winding narrow strips of food-grade kraft paper around a metal rod in a spiral pattern, gluing the layers together, then cutting the resulting tube into individual straws. The process is fast, with modern machines producing 300 to 750 straws per minute, but each step requires precise material choices to keep the straw from falling apart in your drink.
The Paper and Why It Matters
The base material is food-grade kraft paper, a strong, unbleached paper made from wood pulp. Most straws use three or four separate layers (called plies), each serving a different purpose. The innermost layer needs to be smooth and pure since it touches your drink directly. The middle layer provides structural rigidity and requires high tensile strength so it won’t tear during manufacturing. The outer layer is often bleached or printed for branding, and it needs to hold ink well while adding stiffness to the finished straw.
Paper weight matters too. Straws designed for hot drinks like coffee or tea use heavier paper, measured in grams per square meter (GSM), paired with heat-resistant adhesives. This keeps them from softening as quickly in high temperatures. Much of the kraft paper is sourced from FSC-certified forests, meaning the wood pulp comes from responsibly managed land.
Adhesives That Hold It Together
The glue is water-based, typically a PVA (polyvinyl acetate) adhesive that meets FDA requirements for food contact. Water-based adhesives are preferred because they bond well during the high-speed winding process without introducing harmful chemicals. The glue has to do two things at once: set quickly enough to keep up with a machine running hundreds of straws per minute, and resist moisture long enough that the straw holds its shape in a cold drink for at least 30 to 60 minutes.
Step-by-Step Manufacturing
The process runs on a single automated line with six main stations, moving from left to right.
Slitting the rolls. Large rolls of kraft paper arrive at the factory and get cut into narrow, uniform strips. The width of these strips determines the diameter and wall thickness of the finished straw.
Loading the paper brackets. Three or four rolls of paper strips (one for each ply) are loaded onto a bracket system that feeds them into the machine automatically. When one roll runs out, an auto-splicing feature connects the next roll so production doesn’t stop.
Applying the adhesive. As the strips feed forward, they pass through a stainless steel glue station that coats one side with adhesive. The glue is fed automatically to maintain a consistent, thin layer across the full width of each strip.
Spiral winding. This is the core of the process. The glued strips wrap around a thin metal rod called a mandrel, each layer spiraling at a slight angle so the seams of one layer don’t line up with the seams of the next. That offset pattern is what gives paper straws their strength. Without it, a single weak seam would split open the moment the straw got wet. The mandrel is held in place by a screw clamp, and the winding mechanism controls tension so the tube forms tightly without crushing.
Cutting. The continuous paper tube slides off the mandrel and into a multi-knife cutting system. A set of nine blades, guided by a servo tracking system, slices the tube into individual straws at precise intervals. A dust cover keeps paper particles contained.
Collection. Cut straws travel along a conveyor belt to a collector, where they’re gathered for drying, inspection, and packaging.
Moisture Resistance and Coatings
Uncoated paper absorbs water quickly, which is why raw kraft paper would make a terrible straw on its own. Manufacturers address this in a few ways. The simplest is the adhesive itself, which creates a moisture barrier between the paper layers. Some producers also apply coatings to the inner or outer surface of the straw. Common options include wax, plant-based coatings like chitosan (derived from shellfish shells), and PLA, a biodegradable plastic made from corn starch. Chitosan coatings alone can reduce water absorption in kraft paper by about 35%.
One concern that led to regulatory attention is the historical use of PFAS, sometimes called “forever chemicals,” as grease-proofing agents in food packaging, including some paper straws. The FDA announced a voluntary phase-out of certain PFAS used in food packaging starting in 2020, and by 2024, manufacturers had stopped selling those specific grease-proofing substances for food contact use in the U.S. market. The FDA regulates materials that touch food under federal law, treating food contact substances similarly to food additives.
How Long Paper Straws Last in the Environment
The main selling point of paper straws over plastic is biodegradability. Research on drinking straws placed in coastal ocean conditions found that paper straws lost up to 50% of their mass relatively quickly, with projected environmental lifetimes of 7 to 15 months. That’s a dramatic difference from plastic straws, which can persist for hundreds of years. In compost or landfill conditions with more microbial activity, paper straws break down faster still.
From Pencils to High-Speed Machines
The basic concept hasn’t changed much since 1888, when Marvin Stone patented the first paper drinking straw. Stone was a manufacturer of paper cigarette holders who got tired of drinking mint juleps through natural rye grass straws that left a gritty residue. He wound strips of paper around a pencil, pulled out the pencil, and glued the seams together. To keep the straw from getting soggy, he switched to paraffin-coated manila paper. By 1890, his factory was making more straws than cigarette holders.
Today’s machines automate every step Stone did by hand, but the principle is identical: wrap paper strips around a rod in a spiral, glue them, and cut to length. The main advances are speed, consistency, and coatings that extend how long the straw holds up in a drink.