{"id":3633,"date":"2019-05-24T13:33:37","date_gmt":"2019-05-24T12:33:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gecco.org.uk\/blog\/?p=3633"},"modified":"2026-03-26T11:41:45","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T11:41:45","slug":"plastic-straws-stirrers-and-cotton-buds-will-be-banned-from-next-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gecco.org.uk\/blog\/2019\/05\/24\/plastic-straws-stirrers-and-cotton-buds-will-be-banned-from-next-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Plastic straws, stirrers and cotton buds will be banned from next year"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"et_pb_section_0 et_pb_section et_section_regular et_block_section\"><div class=\"et_pb_row_0 et_pb_row et_block_row\"><div class=\"et_pb_column_0 et_pb_column et_pb_column_4_4 et-last-child et_block_column et_pb_css_mix_blend_mode_passthrough\"><div class=\"et_pb_text_0 et_pb_text et_pb_bg_layout_light et_pb_module et_block_module\"><div class=\"et_pb_text_inner\"><p>Plastic straws, stirrers and cotton buds will be banned in England from next year to tackle pollution and protect the natural world.<\/p>\n<p>The natural world Secretary Michael Gove has confirmed a ban on the supply of the items from April 2020 after a consultation revealed \u201coverwhelming\u201d public support for the move.<\/p>\n<p>More than 80% of respondents back a ban on the distribution and sale of plastic straws,\u00a0according to the consultation, while 90% support a ban on drinks stirrers, and 89% on cotton buds.<\/p>\n<p>It is estimated 4.7 billion plastic straws, 316 million plastic stirrers and 1.8 billion plastic-stemmed cotton buds are used each year in England.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"et_pb_row_1 et_pb_row et_block_row\"><div class=\"et_pb_column_1 et_pb_column et_pb_column_3_5 et_block_column et_pb_css_mix_blend_mode_passthrough\"><div class=\"et_pb_text_1 et_pb_text et_pb_bg_layout_light et_pb_module et_block_module\"><div class=\"et_pb_text_inner\"><p>\"It's vital that we take action to reduce the scourge of single use plastics and today we're putting forward the most comprehensive ban possible on plastic straws, stirrers and cotton buds,\" Mr Gove said.<\/p>\n<p>\"As a result we will make sure that these items,\u00a0which are often lethal for marine wildlife, are effectively banned. Of course there will be some exceptions, and those are for strict medical reasons only. And this ban will ensure that we continue to lead the way in making sure that we reduce plastic in our seas and that we deal with this particular scourge, this pollution that causes so much damage.\"<\/p>\n<p>Those who need to use plastic straws for medical reasons or a disability will still be able to buy them from registered pharmacies or request them in restaurants, pubs and bars. Exemptions will also allow for the use of plastic-stemmed cotton buds for medical and scientific purposes.<\/p>\n<p>But food and drink outlets will not be able to display plastic straws or automatically hand them out.<\/p>\n<p>Around 10% of cotton buds are flushed down toilets, often ending up in waterways and oceans, according to the Government. It is hoped millions of pounds could be saved annually on clean-up efforts of used plastics.<\/p>\n<p>The announcement follows the Government\u2019s ban on microbeads and the 5p charge on single-use plastic bags, which has seen distribution by major supermarkets drop by 86%.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"et_pb_column_2 et_pb_column et_pb_column_&quot;2_5&quot; et-last-child et_block_column et_pb_css_mix_blend_mode_passthrough\"><div class=\"et_pb_image_0 et_pb_image et_pb_module et_block_module\"><span class=\"et_pb_image_wrap\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\" \/><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"et_pb_row_2 et_pb_row et_block_row\"><div class=\"et_pb_column_3 et_pb_column et_pb_column_&quot;4_4&quot; et-last-child et_block_column et_pb_css_mix_blend_mode_passthrough\"><div class=\"et_pb_text_2 et_pb_text et_pb_bg_layout_light et_pb_module et_block_module\"><div class=\"et_pb_text_inner\"><blockquote>\n<p>From: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.itv.com\/news\/2019-05-21\/plastic-straws-stirrers-and-cotton-buds-to-be-banned-from-next-year\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/www.itv.com\/news\/2019-05-21\/plastic-straws-stirrers-and-cotton-buds-to-be-banned-from-next-year\/<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":3630,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[18,19,13,21,86,8],"class_list":["post-3633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-gallery","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-ban","tag-cotton-bud-ban","tag-plastic-pollution","tag-plastic-straw","tag-plastic-straw-ban","tag-sustainability","post_format-post-format-gallery"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gecco.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gecco.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gecco.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gecco.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gecco.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3633"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/gecco.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3633\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13740,"href":"https:\/\/gecco.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3633\/revisions\/13740"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gecco.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3630"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gecco.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gecco.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gecco.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}