The upcoming ban on single-use plastics, which has secured 118,000 signatures and over 50,000 responses to the Defra consultation, will be enforced starting this Sunday (1 October). City to Sea, the organization behind this campaign, welcomes this ban but emphasizes that there is still a significant amount of polluting plastics that need to be addressed.
According to Steve Hynd, City to Sea’s policy manager, “As of this Sunday, some of the most polluting single-use plastics will no longer be an option. Single-use cutlery, takeaway plates, and specific polystyrene packaging will be off the menu when we order takeaways. This is a major victory for the 118,000 supporters who signed our petition and the 50,000 individuals who responded to the Defra consultation.”
However, despite the ban targeting the most harmful plastics, there is still a great deal of pollution caused by other plastic items. To truly address this issue, the government needs to establish ambitious and legally binding reduction and reuse targets. Unfortunately, recent weeks have seen a watering down and weakening of important environmental legislation. Key policies like Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), Deposit Return Schemes (DRS), and recycling reforms have lacked ambition and been delayed beyond the next election.
Without these measures, the ban will only eliminate a fraction of the plastic pollution in our waterways. While we appreciate this ban, it is merely a small step forward in tackling the much larger problem. We urge the government to take more comprehensive action to combat this issue.
