Further bans on single-use plastics expected
Further single-use plastic bans are likely to be introduced in the UK according to proposals set out by Defra in a 12-week consultation. The Financial Times understands that Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey is set to approve the bans, including on plastic plates, cutlery, balloon sticks, and expanded and extruded polystyrene cups and food and beverage containers.
The proposals require businesses and customers to move towards more sustainable alternatives in an attempt from the Government to address sources of plastic pollution and eliminate avoidable plastic waste. Current estimates show that only 10 per cent of single-use plastic plates and cutlery are recycled upon disposal. Plastic cutlery also sits in the top 15 most littered items according to Defra’s 2020 Litter Composition Report.
A Defra spokesperson told Resource: “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 billions 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.”
Single-use plastic items banned in 2020 – plastic straws, stirrers and cotton buds – were criticised by City to Sea at the time as being ‘just a drop in a very plastic polluted ocean’. The Government also has bans in place on plastic microbeads in cosmetic and personal care products, which came into force in 2018.
The consultation included an impact assessment for each of the items that will fall under the ban and states that, while the ban will only apply in England, other Devolved Administrations are ‘considering bringing forward similar regulations’.
Alongside the consultation, Defra put out a call for evidence on other sources of common plastic pollution, such as wet wipes, tobacco filters, sachets, cigarette filters and single-use cups. The outcome of the call for evidence will be published alongside the consultation response.
The Financial Times also reported that insiders believe Defra will encourage the use of biodegradable plastic alternatives to replace the banned single-use items. A UCL study recently found that the public is ‘confused about the meaning of the labels of compostable and biodegradable plastics’.
Andy Sweetman, Chairman of the Bio-based and Biodegradable Industries Association, said at the time: “The results of this welcome research show that compostable packaging actually does biodegrade but that there is huge variability when the process is handled through home composting, and confusion over which materials are suitable.”
Steve Hynd, City to Sea’s Policy Manager, said “We warmly welcome this ban progressing. We’ve been waiting for years now to get a ban that the rest of Europe has had in place for years. But it’s better late than never.
"We do, however, also need the Environment Secretary to clarifying the framing of this ban as items that can be replaced by biodegradable alternatives. We desperately need a wholesale shift from single-use, firstly through reduction in packaging and then by scaling up refill and reuse systems. Business as usual in our throw-away culture can’t continue.” 
