A government ban on polluting single-use plastic items came into force on 1^st October.

No business – whether retailer, takeaway, food vendor or part of the hospitality industry – will now be able to sell single-use plastic cutlery, balloon sticks nor polystyrene cups and food containers in England. The supply of single-use plastic plates, trays and bowls has also been restricted.

Plastic pollution takes hundreds of years to break down and inflicts serious damage on our ocean, rivers and land. It is also a source of greenhouse gas emissions, from its production and manufacture to the way it is disposed.  Research shows people across England use 2.7 billion items of mostly plastic single-use cutlery and 721 million single-use plates every year, but only 10% of these are recycled. If 2.7 billion pieces of cutlery were lined up, they would go round the world more than eight-and-a-half times.

The ban on these items includes:

• Online and over-the-counter sales and supply
• Items from new and existing stock
• All types of single-use plastic, including biodegradable, compostable and recycled
• Items wholly or partly made from plastic, including coating or lining

The ban will not apply to single-use plastic plates, trays and bowls used as packaging in shelf-ready pre-packaged food items as these will be included in BID’s plans for an extended producer responsibility scheme, which will incentivise producers to use less packaging and meet higher recycling targets. Businesses, such as sandwich shops, cafes, takeaways and other retailers are now at risk of being fined if they continue to use the banned items rather than sourcing alternatives.

More information can be found here.