It will be illegal to sell single-use plastic cutlery, balloon sticks, polystyrene cups or food containers in England from this Sunday 1 October, as the nationwide government ban comes into force.
Bans and restrictions have been placed against a wide range of single-use plastic items in a controversial move which is designed to simultaneously tackle litter and protect the environment from plastic pollution.
Environment minister Rebecca Pow said the legislation is part of a wider aim to “eliminate all avoidable plastic waste by 2042” and described the move as: “the next big step in our mission to crack down on harmful plastic waste”.
Retailers, takeaways, food vendors and the wider hospitality industry will all be affected by the ban, which also restricts the supply of single-use plastic plates, trays and bowls, although industry experts say there is “still more to do”.
However, the ban does not apply to single-use plastic plates, trays and bowls used as packaging in shelf-ready pre-packaged food items, as these will be included in the EPR (extended producer responsibility) scheme, encouraging manufacturers to use less packaging and meet higher recycling targets.
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Research shows people across England use 2.7 billion items of mostly plastic single-use cutlery and 721 million single-use plates every year, but only 10% of these are recycled. Despite this, a public consultation showed overwhelming support for the move, with 95% in favour of the ban.
This weekend’s legislation builds on the UK’s existing bans on straws, stirrers and cotton buds, as well as the plastic packaging tax and single-use carrier bag charge, which cut sales in the main supermarkets by more than 98% since its introduction in 2015, taking billions of bags out of circulation.
Helen Bird, head of material systems at WRAP, also commented on the legislation, adding that single-use plastics “dominate our world”, and describing this weekend’s ban as “an important moment in tackling the scourge of plastic pollution”.
However, she also highlighted that “there is still more to do”, pointing towards the deposit return scheme for drinks containers which will allow consumers to recycle billions more plastic bottles and stop them being landfilled, incinerated or littered.
Since 2018, WRAP has worked with businesses under The UK Plastics Pact to eliminate all unnecessary and unrecyclable plastic packaging and removing 620 million single-use plastic items from shops.
