Ban on single-use plastic from October 1st

From Sunday 1st October certain single-use plastic items - including plates, bowls, cutlery, trays, polystyrene cups and food containers - will be banned in England.

‘Single use’ means the item is meant to be used only once for its original purpose.

From this date retailers, takeaways, food vendors and the hospitality industry won't be able to supply, sell or offer these items.

The measures are all part of the effort to reduce plastic waste and littering in England:

• Plastic cutlery was in the top 15 most littered items in the country in 2020

• England uses an estimated 2.7 billion items of single-use cutlery — most of which are plastic — and 721 million single-use plates per year, yet only 10% are recycled

Plastic pollution takes hundreds of years to break down and inflicts serious damage to oceans, rivers and land.

It is also a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, from the production and manufacture of the plastic itself to the way it is disposed.

Under the new restrictions the ban on these items will include

• 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.

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