According to the news in the local press in the country, the Ministry of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs approved the ban on disposable items such as plastic cutlery, knives and plates in the UK.
However, the application in question will not cover the works found in supermarkets or stores.
British Environment Minister Therese Coffey is expected to make a statement in the coming days about when the ban will come into effect.
“We listened to the people’s invitations once again”
In a statement to The Mail on Sunday, Minister Coffey confirmed that they are preparing to ban single-use plastic artifacts, noting that a plastic fork can take 200 years to decompose, end up in landfills or pollute the oceans.
Coffey stated that he was determined to take action to solve the problem directly and used the following words:
“We have made valuable strides in recent years, but we know there is more to be done and we have heeded the public’s invitation once again. This new ban will have a huge impact in stopping billions of plastic cuts from polluting the environment and helping protect the natural environment for future generations.”
“A move too late and still a drop in the ocean”
Megan Randles, responsible for the UK’s political campaigns for environmental organization Greenpeace, said: “While removing the billions of trash can is never a bad thing, it’s a long overdue action and it’s still a drop in the ocean compared to what needs to be done to stop the plastic wave.” made its assessment.
Randles urged the government to take more meaningful strategic steps to reduce plastic use.
Similar bans were imposed in Scotland, while disposable plastic straws, stirrers and cotton swabs with plastic handles were banned in the UK in 2020.
In Scotland, bans were imposed on businesses using single-use plastic artifacts in June 2022, while a similar law was passed in Wales in December 2022.
In the UK, information reveals that around 1.1 billion disposable plastic plates and 4.25 billion cutlery are used each year, of which only 10 percent are recycled after use.
