Justin Backs Latest Government Announcements To Reduce Plastic Waste

North Swindon MP Justin Tomlinson has welcomed the Government’s announcement that it intends to ban the sale of plastic straws, drink stirrers and plastic stemmed cotton buds.

There are over 150 million tonnes of plastic in the world’s oceans, and every year one million birds & over 100,000 sea mammals die from eating and getting tangled in plastic waste. Items like straws, drink stirrers and cotton buds are a significant problem. In the UK 8.5 billion plastic straws are thrown away each year – contributing to the crisis of plastic pollution in the world’s oceans.

In order to help combat the problem, the Government has announced that – subject to a consultation – it hopes to ban the sale of plastic straws, drink stirrers and cotton buds. In order to eliminate these items from use the Government will work with industry to develop alternatives and ensure there is sufficient time to adapt. It will also propose excluding plastic straws for medical reasons.

The work forms part of the Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan, which it announced at the beginning of the year. So far the plan has seen the 5p charge on plastic bags remove 9 billion plastic bags from circulation, one of the world’s strongest bans on beauty products containing microbeads, and a pledge to introduce a deposit return scheme for plastic bottles and cans.

The announcement comes as the Prime Minister has urged all Commonwealth countries to sign-up to the newly-formed Commonwealth Clean Oceans Alliance and take action, be this by a ban microbeads, a commitment to cutting down on single use plastic bags, or other steps to eliminate avoidable plastic waste.

To drive this forward the UK government has committed a £61.4 million package of funding to boost global research and help countries across the Commonwealth stop plastic waste from entering the oceans in the first place.

Justin Tomlinson MP said: “I am incredibly proud that, yet again, Britain is at the forefront of efforts to combat plastic pollution. The Government continues to demonstrate its intent to tackle the problem, and stick to its ambition of eliminating all avoidable plastic waste by 2043."