Dec. 14 -- Single-use plastic items, including cutlery and plates, will be banned in England as the British government tries to curb the problem of waste polluting rivers and oceans.
Environment Minister Thérèse Coffey plans to announce a phase-out of the items in the coming weeks and replace them with biodegradable alternatives, following similar moves by the Welsh and Scottish governments.
England handles over 4 billion pieces of cutlery and over 1 billion plates involving single-use plastics every year. While it is possible to recycle these items, the vast majority still end up in landfills or as trash as part of the country's disposable culture.
In 2020, the UK government bans single-use plastic straws, stirrers and swabs in the UK.
Last year, ministers launched a consultation to ban the use of several other disposable items in England, including cutlery, plates and polystyrene cups.
According to government insiders, the ban was delayed due to political turmoil, but now Coffey is preparing to approve it.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs says it is vital to reduce England's reliance on single-use plastics.
"We are determined to go farther and faster to reduce, reuse and recycle more resources to transform our waste industry."
"We will soon respond to a consultation on a 'further ban on plastic plates, cutlery, balloon tray sticks and expanded and extruded polystyrene food and drink containers'."
The department is considering how to handle other items involving single-use plastics, including wet wipes and tobacco filters.
Only about one-tenth of the 300 million tons of plastic waste generated globally each year is recycled.
Plastics can last for centuries, breaking down into smaller and smaller pieces, with devastating consequences for wildlife.
Last week, the Welsh Assembly approved legislation to ban nearly a dozen products involving single-use plastics, including cutlery, plates and fast food containers, starting in the fall of 2023.
Welsh climate minister Julie James told the Financial Times that there are non-plastic or reusable alternatives to all products, such as wooden cutlery.
She said the Welsh government has studied the comparative costs of plastic products and their biodegradable alternatives and found little difference in price.
"It's not expensive at all, and as people become aware of the dangers of these products, more alternatives will come into use at a cheaper price," James added.
In 2011, Wales was the first UK country to introduce a 5p single-use plastic bag charge, with Scotland and England later following suit, leading to a significant drop in usage.
In June, the Scottish government banned the use of a variety of single-use plastic items, including cutlery, plates, straws and polystyrene food containers and cups.
But Nina Schrank, a senior plastics campaigner at Greenpeace UK, said the British government is not acting fast enough.
She added that the UK still throws away about 100 billion pieces of plastic each year.
Schrank said the British government should use its environment bill to set legally binding targets to halve single-use plastics by 2025 and ban the export of plastic waste.
