Single-use plastic items have become a global environmental concern. For instance, plastic straws are being replaced by glass, paper, or stainless steel. But in South Korea, one local company is capitalizing on the trend by making eco-friendly straws made of rice. Shane Hahm explains.

There's nothing better than sipping on an ice-cold beverage on a hot summer day. But imagine doing that without a straw. In South Korea, coffee franchises are phasing out the use of single-use plastics as part of a government-led initiative. The world's largest chain, Starbucks, has announced plans to eliminate plastic straws by 2020, instead serving customers with strawless lids and only offering paper instead of plastic straws on request.

ANDY JUNG STARBUCKS COFFEE KOREA "100 percent of our stores in Korea have adopted paper straws. We have eliminated all use of plastic ones. And by developing a lid that doesn't require a straw, we have reduced the use of single-use straws overall by 50 percent."

One South Korean company is going a step further. It's developed a straw made from rice. The eco-friendly product is sturdy and essentially tasteless, so it doesn't affect the flavor of the beverage.

SHANE HAHM SEOUL "These straws are 100 percent biodegradable and will decompose within 100 days-that compared to 200 years for ordinary plastic straws. They're made of a mixture of rice flour and tapioca powder, so they're edible. You can even boil them up and use them as noodles in your favorite pasta dishes."

KIM KWANG-PIL CEO, YEONJIGONJI "While researching, I noticed that there were patents for edible cups but not for edible straws. So, I thought to myself, if I make edible straws, not only would it reduce environmental pollution but there's also the potential to become a big business hit."

Kim manufactures his products in Vietnam, where the rice is more conducive to making straws. They can be designed in various shapes and forms. But at present, manufacturing costs are roughly six times higher than for plastic straws.

KIM KWANG-PIL CEO, YEONJIGONJI "We currently have the capacity to manufacture about 700 million straws per month. But if we can increase that to one-and-a-half (1.5) to two (2) billion units, my goal is to drop the price so that it's equivalent to plastic straws."

South Koreans go through more than two-and-a-half billion plastic straws annually. The government's goal is to produce zero waste in stores by the year 2027. And that's a goal environmentalists are willing to drink to. Shane Hahm, CGTN, SEOUL.