England is going to ban single - utilization plastic cutter and unmarried - manipulation polystyrene food containers , following similar initiatives byScotlandandWalesin 2022 that made providing such items an offense . It isestimated thatthe UK currently practice 2.5 billion disposable umber loving cup per year , with England recycle only 10 percent of the 4.25 billion single - use cutter items and 1.1 billion exclusive - use plates used annually .
These measures will apply to businesses such as takeaways and restaurants , but not supermarkets and shops . Thisfollowsapublic consultationby the Department for Environment , Food and Rural Affairs ( DEFRA ) that bleed from November 2021 to February 2022 . DEFRA isreportedto be confirm the move on January 14 .
Ina documentrelated to the consultation published in November 2021 , it is guess that 80 percentage of England ’s food and beverage container market is expanded and extruded polystyrene ( EPS ) . The document states that these containers “ do not biodegrade or photodegrade and so they amass in the environment . EPS items are especially fragile in their physical nature , mean that once littered these point tend to fragmentize into small pieces and are break up into the environment . ”
“ Single - use plastic cutlery is typically made of a polymer called polypropylene ; single - use plastic plate are made of either polypropylene or polystyrene,”another documentrelated to the interview explain . “ substitute materials decompose quicker – wooden cutting tool is estimated [ to ] break up in 2 year whereas newspaper decomposition time vary between 6 to 60 hebdomad . point from substitute cloth are also less C intensive to cook up ( a MT of Sir Henry Joseph Wood and report vent 233 kgCO2e [ kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent ] and 354 kgCO2e per tonne of textile used during output , whereas comparative note value for polypropene and polystyrene metre at 1,875 kgCO2e and 2,306 kgCO2e per tonne ) and incinerate than plastic ”
The unmarried - use utensil are “ typically discarded to general waste or littered rather than recycled due to the effort required to segregate and cleanse them . Even if shaping cutter are placed in recycling bank identification number , their small size of it means that they are more likely to strike between recycling machinery and are therefore unbelievable to be recycle . ”
“ The impact assessment see two options : the ‘ do - nothing ’ option and the choice to ban undivided - use plastic plates and cutlery in April 2023 , ” the document continues . However , the measuresare setto be introduced in October .
“ We ’ve already carry major step in recent years - but we know there is more to do , and we have again listened to the public ’s calls , " Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey say , according to theBBC . " This new ban will have a huge impact to stop the pollution of billions of piece of plastics and supporter to protect the natural environment for succeeding generations . "
