The UK government said it was set to ban single-use plastic products, like those that often come with take-out and delivery meals.
The items to be covered by the ban would include plastic utensils, plates, trays, certain kinds of polystyrene cups and containers, and even balloon sticks, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) told the Daily Mail.
Defra said the country uses 1.1 billion single-use plates and 4.25 billion single-use utensils every year.
England had already banned single-use plastic straws, stirrers and plastic-stemmed cotton swabs in 2020.
Two other nations on the British Isles have already banned single-use plastic. Scotland’s went into effect as of August 2022, while Wales approved a ban in December.
In the U.S. eight states—California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, New York, Oregon and Vermont—have banned single-use plastic bags. California in July also passed legislation mandating that companies that sell shampoo, food and other products contained by plastic have a decade to cut down on their use of polluting material if they want to do business in that state.
The UK government was set to officially announce its plan for England on Saturday.
