The Department for Food, the Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) first confirmed legislation to phase these items in May 2019, initially setting the deadline for April 2020. In light of the impact of Covid-19 on the supply chains of these items – and with public health concerns taking priority over plastics reduction – Defra confirmed in April that the date would be changed to 1 October.
No business or organisation will be exempt from the rule, regardless of its size or how many of the items it sells or gives away. However, establishments like hospitals, bars, restaurants and cafes will need to make plastic straws available to those with disabilities or other medical needs upon request. “The government will rightly be receiving plaudits for the banning of some of the worst items that cause plastic pollution… [but] these measures are a drop in a plastic polluted ocean and they need to quickly scale up their plans as a matter of urgency,” the non-profit’s chief executive Natalie Fee said.
The European Commission’s single-use plastic directive was adopted in June last year and introduced bans on selected throw-away items such as cutlery, beverage cups, balloon sticks, straws and cotton bud sticks. Some industry groups had called for the ban to be lifted because of health and hygiene concerns raised during the COVID-19 outbreak but the commission refused to readjust the legislation in line with these demands.
Source: Edie
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