Plastic cutlery, plates and balloon sticks will be banned in England under new green laws

8 January 2023, 17:51 | Updated: 9 January 2023, 05:39

Single-use plastic plates, cutlery and balloon sticks will be banned by the end of the year under new legislation.

Environment Secretary Therese Coffey will unveil the latest green law next week, claiming it will have a "huge impact" on the number of pollutants clogging up the planet's rivers and seas.

The single-use plastics take around 200 years to decompose.

Plastic straws, cotton buds and drink stirrers have been banned since October 2020, while plastic bags have carried a 5p charge since 2015.

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Businesses still using plastic cutlery and trays will now be forced to invest in sustainable alternatives, the government said.

Ms Coffey told the Mail On Sunday: "This new ban will have a huge imp act to stop the pollution of billions of pieces of plastic and help to protect the natural environment for future generations."

The ban will reportedly not cover plastics used by takeaways, which are covered by a separate scheme due for review next year.

Keep Britain Tidy boss Allison Ogden-Newton said: "This is great news and definitely a step in the right direction.

"As a society, we need to wean ourselves off all single-use items, which take huge amount of resources to produce only to end up either in the bin or littered on the ground after being used for just a few minutes."

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