UK single-use plastic ban comes into force, sparking debates over impacts and industry awareness

03 Oct 2023 --- The UK government enforced a ban on all types of single-use plastic (SUP) on Sunday, including biodegradable, compostable and recycled items. While retailers are embracing the ban, packaging associations say they are unprepared and NGOs call the government’s strategy “completely inadequate to the problem.” 

The UK Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) stipulates that all single-use plastic plates, bowls and trays, cutlery, balloon sticks and polystyrene food and drink containers are prohibited throughout the UK.

Martin Kersh, executive director at the Food Packaging Association (FPA), tells us that the association’s key concern over the recent single-use packaging ban is that the UK government has done little to make foodservice operators aware. 

“The majority of operators are independent, small businesses, and the government hasn’t reached them. As a consequence, they have been left with stocks they can’t use.”

Kersh continues that the media has provided wrong information about the ban. “Not all the items are banned, some are restricted. Plastic plates, bowls and trays may continue to be used as packaging. This can be pre-filled or filled to order by consumers in-store.”

Defra’s business guidance suggests reusable alternatives to single-use items but Kersh says there are no reuse systems for cutlery for takeaway food. Conflicting reactions 
Anna Diski, plastics campaigner for Greenpeace UK, says that the UK government’s approach to plastic pollution – “legislating token bans on a few SUP items every few years and expecting a standing ovation for it – is completely inadequate to the scale of the problem.”

“Despite growing public concern, more and more plastic is being produced and, unlike other materials, it can’t be endlessly recycled even if the facilities to do so existed,” asserts Diski.

“Instead of this piecemeal approach, the government needs to address the problem at the source and roll out a serious strategy to cut how much plastic is produced. This strategy must include measures that incentivize supermarkets to switch to reusable alternatives.”

But Nadiya Catel-Arutyunova, sustainability policy adviser at the British Retail Consortium, tells Packaging Insights that retailers are committed to reducing unnecessary plastics under the plastics pact and are ready for the ban on SUP. “They continue to invest in alternatives to SUP, as part of their wider efforts to make the industry more sustainable.”

“October 2023 is the month of SUP bans. English ban on October 1 and the Welsh one to follow shortly on October 30,” elaborates Catel-Arutyunova.

Meanwhile, British retailer Tesco says that all the products in its disposable tableware range are either fully recyclable, home-compostable or for customers looking for longer-lasting picnicware that can be washed up and reused multiple times. Tesco does not offer SUP cutlery with its food-to-go options, the retailer tells us. 

Bans and exemptions
In the document, Defra defines “single-use” as meaning the item is intended to be used only once for its original purpose.

The ban on the above-mentioned items includes:

• Online and over-the-counter sales and supply.
• Items from new and existing stock.
• All types of SUP, including biodegradable, compostable and recycled.
• Items fully or partly made from plastic, including coating or lining.

Defra highlights that businesses should use up existing stock, find reusable alternatives to single-use items and use different materials for SUP items. The department warns that businesses can be fined if they continue to supply banned SUP after October 1.Defra warns that businesses can be fined if they continue to supply banned SUP after October 1.

There are some exemptions to the ban, depending on the item. Since October 1, businesses must not supply SUP plates, trays and bowls to members of the public but can still supply SUP plates, bowls and trays if they supply them to another business or if the items are packaging (pre-filled or filled at the point of sale).

Examples of this type of packaging include a pre-filled salad bowl or ready meal packaged in a tray, a plate filled at the counter of a takeaway or a tray used to deliver food.

Meanwhile, there are no exemptions to the ban on SUP cutlery or balloon sticks.

Polystyrene confusion
Businesses must no longer supply ready-to-consume food and drink in polystyrene (PS) containers, reads the government website. While Defra states this includes PS cups, expanded (EPS) and extruded PS (XPS), Kersh asserts that the ban merely applies to EPS and XPS boxes and cups, but not to PS cups.

Exemptions include that a business can still supply food or drink in polystyrene containers if it needs further preparation before it is consumed. For example, further preparation could mean adding water, microwaving or toasting.

While BRC says retailers are prepared for the single-use pack ban, Greenpeace UK flags it as inadequate. According to Defra, local authorities will conduct inspections to ensure the rules are followed. Specifically, inspectors can visit a shop or store, make test purchases, speak to staff and ask for records.

If a business breaks the law, inspectors can order it to cover the cost of the investigation.

Reuse as an alternative?
The business guidance provided by Defra suggests reusable alternatives to single-use items. 

FPA’s executive director says that reuse is fine when part of a reuse system – a system that ensures items are thoroughly cleaned and are in “perfect” condition when reused. 

But Kersh warns that the “causal reuse statement” leads to some producers making the items heavier and relabelling them as reusable “when they never will be reused.”

“There are no reuse systems for cutlery for takeaway meals.”

Kersh concludes that the bans will not impact climate change, and with the current alternatives, carbon emissions increase. “Many independent operators are being exploited – buying packaging they don’t need and being sold packaging they can’t use.”

By Natalie Schwertheim