A range of polluting single-use plastics will soon be banned following the Government's consultation on this issue
The ban will include single-use plastic plates, trays, bowls, cutlery, balloon sticks, and certain types of polystyrene cups and food containers. This ban will be introduced from October 2023, allowing businesses time to prepare.
According to estimates, England uses 2.7 billion items of single-use cutlery — most of which are plastic — and 721 million single-use plates per year, but only 10% are recycled. If 2.7 billion pieces of cutlery were lined up they would go round the world over eight and a half times (based on a 15cm piece of cutlery).
Welcoming the news was St Austell and Newquay’s Member of Parliament Steve Double, who said:
“Since I was first elected in 2015 I have been proud to have worked with colleagues from across Parliament to make the case to Government to crack down on the single use plastics that often end up littering our seas and beaches.”
“This Government has responded and continues to do more than any other to deal with this menace and I am pleased to see this announcement, which will do even more to remove single-use plastics from circulation.”
“There is always more to do, and I am pleased to see the Environment Minister reiterate her commitment for the deposit return scheme for drinks containers. I will continue to do all I can to push for this and other sensible measures to reduce plastic pollution.”
Commenting, Environment Minister Rebecca Pow said:
“Plastic is a scourge which blights our streets and beautiful countryside and I am determined that we shift away from a single-use culture.”
“By introducing a ban later this year we are doubling down on our commitment to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste. We will also be pressing ahead with our ambitious plans for a deposit return scheme for drinks containers and consistent recycling collections in England.”
It is expected that banning these items will have a significant impact in reducing plastic waste and littering in England. Plastic cutlery, for instance, was in the top 15 most littered items in the country by count in 2020.
Previous bans, such as banning straws, stirrers and cotton buds, have reduced the damage from these plastics. Before we banned these products, it was estimated straws, stirrers and cotton buds collectively contributed to around 5.7% of marine litter. After our ban, the Great British Beach Clean 2021 reported cotton bud sticks had moved out of the UK’s top ten most common beach litter items.
The Government is also carefully considering further measures around other commonly littered and problematic plastic items, including wet wipes, tobacco filters and sachets, following the call for evidence on this issue.