Should plastic be banned?

Quote from BBC News

Plastic straws and cotton buds could be banned in England as part of the government's bid to cut plastic waste.

Announcing a consultation on a possible ban ministers said 8.5bn plastic straws were thrown away in the UK every year.

The prime minister said plastic waste was "one of the greatest environmental challenges facing the world".

Ever since the powerful images were broadcast of plastic waste in our oceans, the issue of plastic has risen to the top of the political agenda.

I use cotton buds, so I don't personally want to see them banned, but like much plastic waste, the obvious ones being condoms and tampons, these get flushed down our toilets and end up in our rivers and then out into the sea.

Is it time we say enough is enough and ban plastic for good?

Excellent post Heero, I'll reply later when I've cooled down.

Heero, I agree with you about the packaging for food and especially bottled water - a totally American import. Our water is excellent, no need for anyone in the country to go and buy bottles of it.

But I found your bit about cotton buds most interesting. I do use cotton buds a lot, but I've never heard of bamboo ones before, I do hope this comes about.

Didn't know about the plastic that surrounds wires could be recycled either, very interesting too. You're clearly very well versed on this subject.

Quote from BBC News

Wet wipes, used for sticky fingers and removing eye make-up, as well as on other parts of the anatomy, could themselves be wiped out over the next couple of decades.

The government says its plan to eliminate plastic waste "includes single use products like wet wipes".

The wipes contain non-biodegradable plastic.

So manufacturers will either have to develop plastic-free wipes or consumers will have to go without.

Good news! But rather than waiting a couple of decades, why not get rid of wet wipes now?

Does anyone here use wet wipes?

I don't see the point of them myself.. Either you use a tissue, or if you need to clean your hands, use a flannel and if going out, put a wet flannel in a bad - preferably not a plastic one!

Our addition to plastic needs to end.

I think the age of plastic is coming to a end, apart from certain circumstances as highlighted by Heero earlier in the thread and it's all down to the plastic waste in our oceans. (I'll do a separate thread about that.)

I think most people have accepted the concept of reusing plastic bags for shopping, especially when you have to pay for them and alternatives can be found for wet wipes too.

I think plastic packaging for food is going to be the biggest fight, as most supermarkets like to have plastic windows to show the food to customers even when the rest of the packaging is cardboard. I can think of a packet of custard tarts I got from Tesco recently, as but one example of this.

Hygiene, is another reason as you say Fidget, for plastic packaging on food. As any man who has been to the toilet in the supermarket knows, not every man washes their hands.., so we need to be careful before we totally get rid of all plastic packaging from fruit and veg, but the current situation is not sustainable.

On containers, there was a recent programme on the BBC, I think, which showed a shop where most food was contained in large pots or glass jars and every customer had to bring their own containers to fill them with the food, like shops how they used to be. One advantage is you can have exactly the quantity of food you want, rather than everything all be wrapped up in packages which causes a lot of unnecessary food waste as well as the plastic waste.

Gove's plastic scheme is going ahead and a thread about that is here. That's a good idea.

Things need to change.

Star post of the day, there Heero.

I do remember cellophane and I assumed that's what a lot of the discussion was about. I did not know it wasn't plastic. Fascinating. Why do we stop using it?? That will solve a lot of problems as regards food packaging.

Coffee cups about to get taxed??

Quote from BBC News

There is high public support for using the tax system to reduce waste from single-use plastics, the Treasury says.

Quote from Daily Mail

Ministers are poised to slap a ‘latte levy’ on throwaway coffee cups after overwhelming public backing for radical action on waste.

Taxes could also be introduced on other single-use items as part of the war on plastic pollution.

A record 162,000 Britons responded to a Treasury consultation on how to deal with problem packaging and the vast majority supported action on disposable coffee cups and takeaway trays.

The BBC article has a good video about how some plastics could be replaced, but I think Heero's earlier post a few months ago about cellophane was most interesting. Clearly, not every solution to the plastic problem has to be some new fangled expensive creation, but ideas from the past.

I think we're at a turning point with plastic waste now and there is a deluge of stories on the subject every day, well, at least on the beeb.

Would you be happy to pay more for your Starbucks coffee if a levy was placed on their cups? Or, how about an extra 20p on your kebab?

Quote from Heero Yuy

We don't buy takeaways or expensive high street coffee so any levy is fine with us. There should be a swingeing tax on bottled water as this is a total luxury item, environmentally destructive in it's production and distribution and not needed in this country where a tap provides a perfectly good alternative.

Fully agree.

Sorry to make this purely political, but as this is a political topic.... its interesting that the liberals and greenies alway go on about the environment, yet they're the ones more l;krely to use expensive branded bottled water or drive chelsea tractors.

Plastic bag fee 'to double to 10p' and include every shop

Quote from BBC News

The 5p fee for plastic carrier bags in England will be doubled to 10p, and extended to all shops, under plans set out by the environment secretary.

The change is contained in a government consultation aimed at further reducing the plastic used by consumers and could come into effect in January 2020.

Smaller retailers, who are exempt from the current levy, supply an estimated 3.6 billion single-use bags annually.

Slowly, but surely our plastic use is being reduced, but with our oceans filled with the stuff, is it anywhere near enough to protect our environment?

Plastic or paper: Which bag is greener?

Quote from BBC News

The supermarket chain Morrisons is raising the price of its reusable plastic bags from 10p to 15p as a trial and introducing a 20p paper version. The paper bags will be available in eight stores as part of a two-month trial. The supermarket chain said reducing plastic was their customers' top environmental concern.

Paper bags remain popular in the US, but they fell out of use in UK supermarkets in the 1970s as plastic was seen as a more durable material.

But are paper bags more environmentally friendly than plastic ones?

The idea of paper bags sounds like a good idea until that is they get wet.

Who here would replace plastic bags in favour of paper ones? On this occasion and for supermarket shopping, it'll be a no from me.

Morrison's 20p charge for their paper bags is ridiculous.

Quote from Fidget

Any containers that are non-recyclable should be banned, except maybe in health services, but even then, why can't containers be sterilised and re-used? No good just increasing the tax on them as they will still be used by those who don't care, when the eventual aim is to get rid of non-recyclable plastic altogether (I hope).

Just coming back to your point from last year, but as milk bottled delivery is on the increase again and those bottles are sterilised and reused, why couldn't your idea be extended to other forms of food containers? I think that's a really good idea.

I'm sure I caught a snippet of a story from a few days ago, which mentioned that a supermarket might try reusable drinks containers, or something like that. If I find the article, I'll post it here.

Everything goes full circle.