What’s the single-use plastic ban?
The UK government has banned single-use plastic items, such as plates and cups, in England. The Financial Times reports Environmental Secretary Thérèse Coffey’s plans to phase out single-use plastic items and replace them with more sustainable alternatives, including reusable packaging such as our Tamper Evident containers and Top-Seal trays.
What one-time-use plastic products are banned?
Many people assume the ban on single-use plastic packaging applies to all plastic products, but this is incorrect. The ban currently only applies to single-use items, such as one-time-use plastic utensils, plates, cups, bowls, and containers commonly used by fast food outlets and Takeaways.
The specific items include:
- cutlery
- plates
- stirrers
- drinking straws
- expanded and foamed extruded polystyrene fast-food containers
- expanded and foamed extruded polystyrene cups
- polystyrene lids for all cups and fast-food containers
- thin plastic single-use carrier bags
- all products made of oxo-degradable plastic
In October, the ban on these specific single-use plastic items will take effect in England, and the public will no longer be able to purchase the specified products.
As the ban applies to single-use plastic packaging, it does not affect the use of plates, bowls, and trays in pre-packaged shelf-ready food items. These items are included in future plans for a producer responsibility scheme aiming to encourage producers to use recycled materials.
Are their alternatives to single-use packaging available?
Systempak offers more sustainable alternatives to single-use plastics. Our products are 100% recyclable, providing a safe and effective packaging solution in line with government requirements. All of Systempak’s products are free of Bisphenol A (BPA), including plastic tamper-proof containers, ready-meal containers and regular plastic containers.
Our EcoPAK range is fully compostable, providing a more eco-friendly packaging solution. Our range includes oven-safe cardboard top seal trays lined with PLA, which are dual oven-able and freezer safe!
We design the packaging of our plastic products to be reused or recycled in household recycling and use both post-consumer and recycled materials in our packaging.