Consultation on proposals to ban commonly littered single-use plastic items in England

Overview

The Government is committed to leaving our environment in a better state than we found it and protecting it for future generations. The 25 Year Environment Plan, published in January 2018, outlines the steps we will take to achieve that, including eliminating avoidable plastic waste by 2042.  

We have already taken strong action to tackle plastic waste. However, though the measures we have already taken, and are planning to take, have impacted, and will impact, the production, consumption and end-of-life treatment of many single-use plastic items and plastic packaging, greatly reducing the volumes of plastic waste we generate, the case for more focused action on certain items remains.    

Consequently, we are consulting on new policy proposals to ban single-use plastic items which we think may not be addressed sufficiently by our existing policies or policy proposals.  

Whilst the proposed ban would apply in England only, the Devolved Administrations are considering bringing forward similar regulations. We are committed to engaging with the Devolved Administrations on wider impacts of these proposals, including on the functioning of the UK internal market.

What happens next

Thank you to all those who responded to this consultation. A summary of the responses to this consultation will be published at www.gov.uk/defra