Environment Minister Rebecca Pow said she is “determined” England shifts away from a single-use culture as the government confirms a range of single-use plastics will be banned in England.
Following the Government’s consultation, 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 with an aim of 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.
Government says 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).
Plastic is a scourge which blights our streets and beautiful countryside and I am determined that we shift away from a single-use culture
From October, people won’t be able to buy these products from any business – this includes retailers, takeaways, food vendors and the hospitality industry.
According to the consultation response published this weekend (14 January), over 95% of those who responded were in favour of the bans.
Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey said: “We all know the absolutely devastating impacts that plastic can have on our environment and wildlife. We have listened to the public and these new single-use plastics bans will continue our vital work to protect the environment for future generations.
“I am proud of our efforts in this area: we have banned microbeads, restricted the use of straws, stirrers and cotton buds and our carrier bag charge has successfully cut sales by over 97% in the main supermarkets.”
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.
“Significant impact”
Government expects 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, it says.
Previous bans, such as banning straws, stirrers and plastic cotton buds, have reduced the damage from these plastics, Government says. It says before these were banned, it was estimated straws, stirrers and cotton buds collectively contributed to around 5.7% of marine litter. After the 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 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.
Future steps that could be explored include banning plastic in these items, and mandatory labelling on packaging to help consumers dispose of these items correctly.
WRAP – Our latest results show an 84% reduction in problematic and unnecessary single use plastics by our UK Plastics Pact members since 2018
A new research project will also look into the impact of wet wipes on blockages in the sewage system, and will inform any future policy actions.
The ban will not apply to plates, trays, and bowls that are used as packaging in shelf-ready pre-packaged food items, as these will be included in government’s plans for an Extended Producer Responsibility scheme – which will set out to incentivise producers to use packaging that can be recycled and meet higher recycling targets.
Richard Swannell, interim CEO of WRAP, said: We are in full support of this announcement by Defra, which marks important progress in the wholesale removal of problematic and unnecessary plastics that can end up as plastic pollution.
“WRAP is working with UK businesses to meet ambitious targets in this important area, and our latest results show an 84% reduction in problematic and unnecessary single use plastics by our UK Plastics Pact members since 2018.
“We’re delighted to see these efforts being backed up by regulation, which will accelerate efforts to keep plastic out of the environment.”
