[ad_1]
Today a delayed ban is in effect in England, preventing companies from distributing plastic straws, stirrers and cotton swabs to customers.
April had been the original deadline for the new legislation, which stops the sale and distribution of single-use plastic items. But, coming in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic and given its impact on supply chains, the government decided to postpone the ban until now.
As of today, it is illegal in almost all circumstances for companies to release them to customers with waivers to protect people with disabilities and people with medical conditions that require plastic straws.
Despite the delay, Environment Secretary George Eustice says Number 10 is “firmly committed to addressing” the single-use plastics problem.
“The ban on straws, stirrers and cotton buds is just the next step in our battle against plastic pollution and our commitment to protecting our ocean and the environment for future generations.
“We are already a world leader in this global effort. Our five-cent charge in single use plastic bags it has managed to reduce sales by 95% in major supermarkets, we have banned microbeads and we are building plans for a deposit return scheme to boost the recycling of single-use beverage containers. “
Pre-pandemic, Defra says the UK was consuming nearly five billion straws a year, 316 million plastic stirrers and 1.8 billion cotton buds.
While it is a step in the right direction, green activists like John Read, founder of Clean Up Britain, argue that it is the tip of the iceberg.
“I think the government deserves some credit for pushing people’s behavior in the right direction, but in reality, when you look at it, it is more fragmented and symbolic than anything else.
“We need to change people’s behavior in a sustainable and permanent way, we need to see a national campaign of behavior change and that is what we do not have in this country at the moment.
“People have to understand that when they throw away plastic straws, hamburger packages, crisp packages, it is their own personal contamination … so that people understand that they are causing harm to the environment.”
Sadly, there is now a new villain in town: disposable PPE.
Used once, cannot be recycled, single use by design.
A seagull with a disposable mask tangled around its legs.
RSPCA wildlife chief Adam Grogan says the charity is increasingly calling out animals that are trapped in it.
“We are seeing an increase in the number of animals that get caught in things like masks … they have their legs or other parts of their bodies tangled in things like the rubber bands that cover their ears.
“This proposed legislation on single-use plastics should help us refocus on the fact that the pandemic has created another set of single-use items that we don’t really need to use, especially we can use reusable items most of the time. . “
