Single-use plastic plates and cutlery will be banned in the UK

The sale of single-use plastic plates, cutlery and other utensils will be prohibited in the United Kingdom from October with the aim of reducing the pollution in seasrivers and on land, the British Ministry for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs announced today.

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The authorities have given ten months for companies to adapt to the new regulations, which will also affect utensils such as plastic trays and bowls, as well as certain types of Styrofoam cups and food containers.

Every year, 2.7 billion single-use cutlery, most of it plastic, and 721 million plates are used in England, of which only 10% is recycled, according to ministry figures.

As of October, retail businesses, restaurants, bars, home delivery companies and any other business must have adapted to the ban.

The British government stressed in a statement that plastic waste takes hundreds of years to decompose and causes serious damage to the ecosystem. Its production is also one of the main sources of greenhouse gas emissions.

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“We all know the absolutely devastating effects that plastic can have on the environment and wildlife. We have listened to the public and this new ban on single-use plastics will continue our vital work to protect the environment for future generations,” said Environment Minister Thérèse Coffey.

The Executive stressed that 95% of those surveyed who participated in a consultation on the measure were in favor of the veto.

The environmental organization Greenpeace demanded for its part a more ambitious strategy: “Banning items one by one generates good headlines for the Government, but it will not eliminate the staggering amount of plastic that the United Kingdom produces each year,” said Nina Schrank in a statement. , plastic campaign manager at Greenpeace UK.

The organization demands a law that obliges supermarkets to offer their customers the possibility of using reusable containers, a system of returning used bottles and that the United Kingdom stop exporting waste abroad.

The British Government already banned the use of plastic microbeads in the manufacture of cosmetics in 2018, while in 2020 it banned single-use straws and plastic swabs. EFE

Source: Elcomercio

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I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.