The first phase of a wide-ranging ban on single-use plastics has come into effect in Wales, while packaging companies question the commitment to police the ban, which is already in place in England.

The Welsh government said products covered by the ban, which came into effect on 30 October, include paper plates with a laminated plastic surface, single-use plastic cutlery – for example forks, spoons, knives – as well as cups and takeaway food containers made from expanded or foamed polystyrene. 

Other affected items include single-use plastic balloon sticks, plastic-stemmed cotton buds, and single-use plastic drinking straws, although there would be exemptions on the latter, “so people who need them to eat and drink safely and independently can continue to have them”, ministers said.

Related: English ban on SUPs begins

Wales plans to kick-start phase two of its SUP ban in September 2026. Products affected then would include carrier bags – with exemptions including carrier bags for raw fish, meat or poultry and unpackaged food – as well as polystyrene lids for cups and takeaway food containers, and oxo-degradable plastic products.

A ban on most SUPs has been in place in Scotland since June 2022, and similar restrictions came into force across England on 1 October, but the Foodservice Packaging Association (FPA, Horsham, UK; www.foodservicepackaging.org.uk) recently pointed out that online retailers such as Amazon and eBay are still able to offer banned items for sale, and questioned who was policing the ban to ensure it is enforced.

Martin Kersh, executive director of the FPA, said members were not supplying non-exempted banned items to their trade customers or to members of the public, as per the rules, and were suffering as a result, while large online retailers were seemingly able to continue. 

“It is disheartening,” Kersh said, “to see Amazon, eBay and others exploiting this lack of supply by blatantly flouting the law. Why should responsible FPA members – who are abiding by the legislation and the FPA Code of Practice – lose out, while other, more unscrupulous traders benefit by continuing to sell banned items online? 

“If not Trading Standards, the FPA would like to know who is policing and enforcing the single-use plastics ban across these digital marketplaces?”