Billions of
plastic stirrers, straws, cotton wool buds could be banned as early as next
year, Theresa May will say today as part of a bid to rid the world of all single
use plastic. The Prime Minister will
use the announcement to call on all other Commonwealth countries to join in the
fight against plastic pollution at the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting
in London. The ban - which will not
include plastic straws required for medical reasons - could be in
place by next year, sources said. Official
figures show that Britons use 44 billion plastic stirrers and 42 billion plastic
straws every year. Mrs May will today
describe plastic waste as "one of the greatest environmental challenges
facing the world". She will say:
"The UK government is a world leader on this issue, and the British public
have shown passion and energy embracing our plastic bag charge and microbead
ban.
We've already
seen retailers, bars and restaurants stepping up to the plate and cutting
plastic use throughout the world, it's only through government, businesses and
the public working together that we will protect our environment for the next
generation.
This is getting to be a huge
issue that needs to be addressing.
The
entire world has a role to play in turning the tide on plastic.
There are over 150 million tons of plastic
in the world's oceans and every year one million birds and over 100,000 sea
mammals die from eating and getting tangled in plastic waste.
"We use them for four seconds and then they last for centuries There are replacements for these "utensils" that leave almost no
footprint on the oceans or the land.
It
will cost a few pennies more than plastic, but the cost in the future will be
worth the difference today.
