Francesca Benson is an editor and staff writer with a master’s degree in biochemistry from the University of Birmingham.
England is set to ban single-use plastic cutlery and single-use polystyrene food containers following similar moves by Scotland and Wales in 2022, which made it a crime to supply such items. An estimated 2.5 billion single-use coffee cups are currently used in the UK each year, and of the 4.25 billion single-use cutlery and 1.1 billion single-use plates used annually, England only recycles 10%.
The measures will apply to businesses such as takeaways and restaurants, but not to supermarkets and shops. This follows a public consultation conducted by the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) from November 2021 to February 2022. DEFRA will reportedly confirm the move on January 14th.
Expanded and extruded polystyrene (EPS) accounts for roughly 80% of the UK food and beverage container market in a paper released in conjunction with the November 2021 consultation. The document states that the containers “are not biodegradable or photodegradable, so they can accumulate in the environment. Styrofoam items are especially brittle in their physical nature, meaning that once items are littered, they tend to break into smaller pieces. spread in the environment.”
“Disposable plastic cutlery is usually made from a polymer called polypropylene; disposable plastic plates are made from polypropylene or polystyrene,” another document related to the consultation explains. “Alternative materials degrade faster – wood cutlery is estimated to degrade within 2 years, while paper decomposes time varies from 6 to 60 weeks. Products made from alternative materials are also less carbon-intensive to manufacture. Low (233 kgCO2e) [ kg CO2 equivalent] per ton of wood and paper and 354 kg CO2e per tonne of materials used in the manufacturing process, compared to 1,875 kg CO2e and 2,306 “plastic incineration”.
Disposable cutlery is “often discarded as general waste or trash rather than being recycled due to the need for sorting and cleaning. less chance of recycling.
“The impact assessment considered two options: the “do nothing” option and the option to ban single-use plastic plates and cutlery in April 2023,” the document says. However, these measures will be introduced in October.
Environment Minister Teresa Coffey said: “We have taken significant steps in recent years, but we know there is still much to be done and we are again listening to the public,” Environment Minister Teresa Coffey said, according to the BBC. plastic and help save the environment for future generations. “
Post time: Mar-28-2023