The bioplastics company, with an office in Shelton, collaborated with a UConn marine sciences team to evaluate the product’s biodegradation in marine ecosystems. The study was led by Hannah Collins, a marine sciences Ph.D. candidate, and her co-author, Larissa Tabb. Ward helped oversee the study as Collins’ graduate advisor.

Straws might seem insignificant, but the plastic straw has come to symbolize a global pollution crisis over the past decade.

President Trump has signed an executive order decrying the "irrational campaign against plastic straws" and directing federal agencies to stop buying paper straws.