The Scottish Government has today (Oct 12) published its plans to ban certain single use plastics ready for consultation.
The ban would cover oxo-degradable plastics that are used in items such as plastic plates, plastic straws, plastic cutlery, polystyrene food and drink containers.
These plastic items were identified by the European Union as being the ones that were most likely to wash up on beaches across the continent.
According to the Scottish Government, up to 300 million plastic straws are used every year in Scotland, with almost 276 million pieces of plastic cutlery, 50 million plastic plates and 66 million polystyrene food containers.
Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham said:
“There is no longer any doubt that plastic waste is having a hugely damaging impact on our oceans, rivers and land ecosystems. We must act now to reduce our reliance on single-use plastic and drive forward a move towards more sustainable, environmentally-friendly alternatives.
“Failure to do so is a dereliction of our duty to our children, who will inherit a natural world polluted by the plastics we have thrown away for the sake of convenience.”
