The UK government has extended a ban on single use plastic items in England.
Items such as straws, stirrers and plastic stemmed cotton buds were banned in England in 2020, and the government has confirmed the ban will now also include plastic cutlery, plates and polystyrene trays. These are often lost to the recycling value stream and end up in landfill.
Government figures suggest that 1.1bn single-use plates and more than 4bn pieces of plastic cutlery are used in England every year. According to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), each person in England uses an average of 18 single-use plastic plates and 37 items of plastic cutlery every year, while just 10pc of those are recycled.
Similar bans already have been made in Scotland and will come into force later in 2023 in Wales.
Defra will publish details on the new rules on 14 January.
By Chloe Kinner
