Gedling borough takeaways to be hit by single-use plastic ban coming into force across England this October

Takeaways and restaurants across Gedling borough will be banned from using single-use plastic cutlery, plates, and bowls from October.

The ban, which will affect England, is being brought in as a way of dealing with the growing plastic problem across the country.

Green groups have welcomed the move, they said that more could be done to stop packaging going straight to landfills.

The British Takeaway Campaign (BTC) has said that more needs to be done to help businesses implement the change.

The BTC also warned it could mean higher prices as eateries pass on the price of more expensive packaging to customers.

The Department of Rural Affairs estimates that England uses 2.7 billion single-use cutlery items a year.

It is expected that this ban will be enforced through the use of civil sanctions with repeated offenses leading to criminal action.

Environment Secretary Therese Coffey said that plastic is having a devastating impact on our environment and wildlife.

She said: “We have listened to the public and these new single-use plastics bans will continue our vital work to protect the environment for future generations.”

“I am proud of our efforts in this area: we have banned microbeads, restricted the use of straws, stirrers and cotton buds and our carrier bag charge has successfully cut sales by over 97% in the main supermarkets.”

The Government is also considering a ban on commonly littered items like wet wipes, tobacco filters, and sachets.

Environment Minister, Rebecca Pow also said that the Government would be “pressing ahead with our ambitious plans for a deposit return scheme for drinks containers and consistent recycling collections in England.”

However, Nina Schrank, Greenpeace’s plastics campaign lead, said: “This announcement is really just nibbling around the edges of a giant problem.

“Banning items one by one might produce nice headlines for the Government but the reality is it won’t stem the staggering amount of plastic the UK produces each year.

“The Government needs to announce reuse targets that mean supermarkets have to follow suit, offering reuse and refill solutions to their customers that eliminate the need for disposable packaging.

“It urgently needs to end the export of waste overseas, which has led to open dumping in countries like Turkey.

“We also need Defra to end its culture of dither and delay and finally bring in the long-promised bottle return scheme which will stop billions of bottles and containers being dumped each year.”