The UK government plans to ban single-use plastic plates, cutlery, and related items by October in an effort to tackle the world’s growing waste problem.
Some single-use plastic items like straws, stirrers, and cotton buds have already been banned in the UK, but now the government wants to continue in that direction.
According to CNN, the ban will include single-use trays, balloon sticks, and some types of polystyrene cups and food containers.
The government said 1.1 billion single-use plates and 4.25 billion items of single-use cutlery are used in England each year, equivalent to 20 plates and 75 pieces of cutlery per person. Only 10% of this giant mountain of plastic ends up recycled, the government said in the consultation document, adding that plastic cutlery was among the 15 most littered items in the UK.
Single-use plastic bans can be effective, research shows. A 2018 report shows a significant drop in the number of plastic bags littering Britain’s seabed — a result of the ban on free plastic bags.
Now the UK has pledged to ban all avoidable plastic waste by 2042.
India, the world’s second most populous country, also banned single-use plastic items like straws, cutlery, cotton buds, packaging films, and cigarette packets.
In California, all single-use packaging and food serviceware will have to be recyclable or compostable by 2032.
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