SINGLE-USE PLASTICS
UK government confirms ban on throwaway cutlery, plates / Details to be announced on 14 January
 The details of the ban will be released on 14 January (Photo: Panthermedia/Toberto) |
The UK government has announced its plan to go ahead with a ban on single-use plastics (SUP) such as cutlery and plates, confirming speculation that has been doing the rounds in the industry for the past year.
The move follows a three-month-long consultation, which concluded nearly a year ago. According to the UK’s environment ministry, England annually uses 1.1 bn single-use plates and 4.25 bn items of single-use cutlery, most of which are plastic, but only 10% are recycled upon disposal.
The devolved Welsh Parliament intends to introduce its own single-use plastics’ ban this autumn, while in Scotland such items have been outlawed since August 2022. Plastic straws and stirrers have been banned in England since 2020.
Related: Calls to ban ‘harmful’ compostable and biodegradable single-use plastics
Environment secretary Thérèse Coffey said the ban would “have a huge impact to stop the pollution of billions of pieces of plastic and help to protect the natural environment for future generations”.
UK daily, The Guardian, reports that the full details of the ban and the government’s response to the consultation are to be announced on 14 January. The government has also turned its sights on other plastic-heavy products, such as wet wipes, sachets, and coffee cups.
It added the UK uses 2.5 bn disposable coffee cups per year, “while plastic sachets are often not recycled due to their small size, which makes it hard to segregate and clean them. The government will consider how a move to sustainable alternatives can be achieved without unfairly impacting consumers”.
The move follows a three-month-long consultation, which concluded nearly a year ago. According to the UK’s environment ministry, England annually uses 1.1 bn single-use plates and 4.25 bn items of single-use cutlery, most of which are plastic, but only 10% are recycled upon disposal.
The devolved Welsh Parliament intends to introduce its own single-use plastics’ ban this autumn, while in Scotland such items have been outlawed since August 2022. Plastic straws and stirrers have been banned in England since 2020.
Related: Calls to ban ‘harmful’ compostable and biodegradable single-use plastics
Environment secretary Thérèse Coffey said the ban would “have a huge impact to stop the pollution of billions of pieces of plastic and help to protect the natural environment for future generations”.
UK daily, The Guardian, reports that the full details of the ban and the government’s response to the consultation are to be announced on 14 January. The government has also turned its sights on other plastic-heavy products, such as wet wipes, sachets, and coffee cups.
It added the UK uses 2.5 bn disposable coffee cups per year, “while plastic sachets are often not recycled due to their small size, which makes it hard to segregate and clean them. The government will consider how a move to sustainable alternatives can be achieved without unfairly impacting consumers”.
10.01.2023 Plasteurope.com [251881-0]
Published on 10.01.2023