Single-use plastic items including cutlery, plates and polystyrene cups are set to be banned in England by the UK Government following a consultation. Environment Secretary Therese Coffey is poised to unveil plans to phase out the items, replacing them with biodegradable alternatives in the coming weeks, the Financial Times reported.
Scottish and Welsh governments have already taken similar actions. It comes after Defra — the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs — held a public consultation on banning the supply of single-use plastic items and polystyrene food and drink containers, which ran from November 2021 to February this year.
Single-use plastic plates, cutlery, balloon sticks and expanded and extruded polystyrene cups and food and beverage containers could all now be phased out in a bid to reduce plastic pollution.
The UK Government banned single-use plastic straws, stirrers and cotton buds in England in 2020. A Defra spokesperson said: “We are determined to go further and faster to reduce, reuse, and recycle more of our resources in order to transform our waste industry and deliver on our commitments in the ambitious 25 Year Environment Plan.
“Cutting our reliance on single-use plastics is crucial. Having already banned single-use straws, stirrers and cotton buds and ended the sale of billons of single-use bags with our plastic bag charge, we will be responding soon to a consultation on further bans of plastic plates, cutlery, balloon sticks and expanded and extruded polystyrene cups.”
Last year, in response to the launch of the public consultation, Sarah Greenwood, a plastics expert from the Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures, said: “Although expanded polystyrene containers for foodservice packaging are low in terms of carbon impact, land usage and water usage, there is no viable recycling stream for them, so they inevitably end up in landfill, incineration, or discarded as litter.
"However, replacing plastic containers with non-plastic alternatives can result in an increase in carbon foot print and other environmental impacts such as land and water usage."
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