I was troubled when I read that plastic straws were not being recycled because they slipped through the cracks and caused damage to the recycling machinery. Why would I put them in my recycling bin knowing they wouldn’t be recycled... So, here is what I did...
I gathered up the plastic straws in my pantry, grabbed a roll of parchment paper for baking and my iron. I first took a towel and laid it on my counter,  then I layered a sheet of parchment paper on top of it. I then placed a row of straws together and layered another sheet of parchment paper on top. I took my heated iron and laid it flat on top of the parchment paper until the plastic straws melted together in between the sheets of parchment paper. Once the parchment paper cooled I removed the top parchment paper, layered another row of straws on top of the other plastic straws and continued the cycle until all the straws were melted together. Once I was finished I removed the cooled parchment paper took my melted straws and put them in the recycle bin.... they shouldn’t be slipping through the cracks anymore!