UK government will ban the use of disposable plastic items
The UK government said on Saturday that from October, the UK will ban a large number of disposable plastic products, including plates and dishes, to limit their "destructive" impact on the environment.
The Ministry of Environment announced that the new legislation will also cover disposable cups and certain types of polystyrene cups and food containers.
The ministry said that Britain uses about 2.7 billion disposable tableware every year, most of which are plastic tableware, and only one tenth of the tableware is recycled.
Environmental policy is a decentralisation issue for the governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The British government in London makes politics in Great Britain.
Similar legislation has been adopted in Scotland and Wales.
The ministry said that repeated violations of the ban may eventually constitute a criminal offence, and the perpetrators will be exposed to the risk of fines.
"We all know that plastics will have an absolutely devastating impact on our environment and wildlife," said UK Environment Minister Tracy Coffey.
She added: "We have listened to public opinion and this new ban on disposable plastics will continue our important work to protect the environment for future generations."
The government said the ban would not extend to ready-to-eat foods in supermarkets.
Matt Hood, Managing Director of Co-op supermarket chain, welcomed the ban.
He said, "We have always been at the forefront of eliminating unnecessary plastics, so it is encouraging to see the introduction of this ban. We have removed plastic tableware from our food and replaced it with wooden forks."
But the environmental organisation Greenpeace UK said that these plans were not deep enough.
Megan Randles, a Greenpeace UK political activist, said: "Although the government has finally banned some things, which is welcome, we are dealing with plastic floods reaching for a mop instead of turning off the faucet."
She added: "It is time to stop serving industry lobbyists, stop promoting wrong solutions and stop dumping our plastic waste in countries causing the climate crisis."
