Following positive feedback from a recent consultation the Government has introduced a ban on a range of single-use plastics in England.
The ban will include plates, trays, bowls, cutlery, balloon sticks and certain polystyrene cups and food containers. The Government is giving businesses time to prepare by applying the new rules from October.
At present only ten per cent of the 2.7 billion single-use plastic items used each year in England are recycled. Over 95 per cent of respondents to the consultation by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs supported introducing the ban.
Harrogate & Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones said: “I am pleased to see action taken to ban these unnecessary items. Plastic can take hundreds of years to break down and its production is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions.
“It was good to see that ministers are also pressing ahead with plans to introduce a deposit return scheme for drinks containers and to create consistent recycling collections for all local authorities in England.”
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