England to ban single-use plastic cutlery and replace it with biodegradable alternatives
Single-use plastic items including cutlery and plates will be banned in England, as the government tries to curb waste polluting rivers and seas.
Environment Minister Thérèse Coffey plans to announce in the coming weeks that the items will be phased out and replaced with biodegradable alternatives, following similar moves by the Welsh and Scottish governments.
England processes more than 4 billion cutlery items and more than 1 billion plates involving single-use plastic every year. While these items can be recycled, the vast majority still end up in landfill or as trash as part of the country's throwaway culture.
In 2020, the UK government banned single-use plastic straws, stirrers and cotton swabs in the UK.
Last year, ministers launched a consultation to ban several other single-use items in the UK, including cutlery, plates and polystyrene cups.
According to government insiders, the ban was delayed by political turmoil, but now Coffey is preparing to approve it.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs says it is vital to reduce England's reliance on single-use plastics.
"We are determined to go further and faster to reduce, reuse and recycle more resources to transform our waste industry."
"We will respond shortly to inquiries about further bans on plastic plates, cutlery, balloon sticks and expanded and squeezed polystyrene cups.
The department is considering what to do with other items involving single-use plastic, including wet wipes and tobacco filters.
Only about one-tenth of the 300 million tonnes of plastic waste generated globally each year is recycled.
Plastic can persist for centuries, breaking down into smaller and smaller fragments, with devastating consequences for wildlife.
Last week, the Welsh Assembly approved legislation to ban nearly a dozen products involving single-use plastic from autumn 2023, including cutlery, plates and fast food containers.
Welsh climate minister Julie James told the UK's Financial Times that there were non-plastic or reusable alternatives for all products, such as wooden cutlery.
She said the Welsh Government had conducted research into the comparative costs of plastic products and their biodegradable alternatives and found little price difference.
"It's not expensive at all, and as people realize how dangerous these products are, more alternatives will come into use at a cheaper price," James added.
Wales was the first UK country to introduce a 5p charge for single-use plastic bags in 2011, with Scotland and England later following suit, leading to a significant drop in usage.
In June, the Scottish government banned a wide range of single-use plastic items, including cutlery, plates, straws and polystyrene food containers and cups.
But Nina Schrank, senior plastics campaigner at Greenpeace UK, said the UK government was not acting fast enough.
She added that the UK still throws away around 100 billion pieces of plastic every year.
Schrank said the UK government should use its environment bill to come up with legally binding targets to halve single-use plastic by 2025 and ban the export of plastic waste.
