'A plastic fork can take 200 years to decompose', said environment secretary Thérèse Coffey:
Single-use items such as plastic cutlery, plates and trays are to be banned in England in a bid to reduce pollution, the government has confirmed.
Figures suggest that every year England uses about 1.1bn single-use plates and 4.25bn pieces of such cutlery, only 10% of which are recycled after being used.
Plastic items relating to takeaway food and drink, including food containers and cutlery, make up the largest share of litter in the world's oceans, according to research.
[...] Similar bans have already been made in Scotland and Wales, while the UK government banned single-use plastic straws, stirrers and cotton buds in England in 2020.
However it appears the new move is not comprehensive. According to the Daily Mail, the ban will cover plastic plates, bowls and trays used for food and drink eaten at a restaurant, cafe or takeaway but not in settings such as supermarkets and shops.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by sigterm on Saturday January 14, @05:44PM (11 children)
So someone noticed that if you throw stuff that doesn't really decompose in landfills (or in nature generally), guess what? It doesn't decompose! Shocking, I know.
And the only reasonable cause of action is to ban the items in question, obviously. I mean, I guess we could introduce harsh penalties for littering and pollution, and then actually enforce those rules, but that sounds boring.
I'm looking forward to seeing some real data on the decomposition time of other items, such as:
- iPhones
- items of jewelry
- plastic furniture
- windows
- bicycles
- surgical face masks
- etc.
I expect to see a ban on any and all items that don't fully decompose in at most a year.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by krishnoid on Saturday January 14, @06:41PM
Couldn't we add something to the
cashcredit cardregistercheck-out tablet so before youka-chingbeep your order, you can opt-in/out of plastic cutlery? Seems like Clover/Square/Squirrel/NEC could add it as a single-click add-on to their systems all at once, and if you're still using an old-style register, you're exempted.Also, why not make Apple responsible for recycling iPhones? By which I mean, when you turn in an iPhone for recycling, they video the entire recycling and stripdown process and make the video available online for 5-10 years as a record of the fact that it was actually recycled properly. Hell, forget Apple, make Amazon [cnbc.com] do it; they'd figure something out *really* quickly.
(Score: 5, Informative) by kazzie on Saturday January 14, @06:54PM (1 child)
Few of those are single use items that are made to be used only once. Those are the really silly things to keep manufacturing and throwing away. (Though personally I'd consider an Iphone to be of very little use.)
Most* bicycles, for example, can be reused, repaired, and eventually recycled. In my neck of the woods, any bicycles brought to landfill are diverted away and get the above treatment.
*Carbon fibre frames aren't very repairable if damaged, but they're also a small portion of the market.
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Sunday January 15, @07:01PM
Why just single-use cutlery? Before plastic forks you would have to carry real flatware. It's not very convenient and I agree with someone earlier who said they should ask. What they should outlaw is plastic cups, straws, soda, and cooking oil bottles. Before the deluge of plastic everything, there were waxed cardboard cups and straws, and glass bottles. They worked well.
That said, ketchup should never again come in a glass bottle. A jar, maybe, but you kids don't have a clue how much of an improvement plastic ketchup bottles were!
Carbon, The only element in the known universe to ever gain sentience
(Score: 5, Informative) by weirsbaski on Saturday January 14, @07:02PM (5 children)
We already have laws against littering (with the potential for $hundreds in fines), look at the ground next to any often-used intersection to see how useful those laws are.
Instead of complaining about people trying to stop the constant dumping of trash, it might be more appropriate to call out the people who are the reason we can't have nice things.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by RS3 on Saturday January 14, @08:12PM (1 child)
The laws might be too lenient, but the real problem is lack of enforcement.
Long before dashcams were a thing I envisioned a system whereby we drivers would report someone we saw doing something illegal. At some point, if someone gets enough negative reports, they must take a mandatory driving simulator test.
I've had a dashcam for years, and won't drive without it. Sometimes it catches some pretty bad violations, but as far as I can tell, no-one in law enforcement cares to do anything with my video. I'll do some more searching, but cynical me thinks no-one wants more work to do, so cops, DAs, whoever, are happy to ignore me and my video.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Joe Desertrat on Sunday January 15, @12:37AM
While there are probably legal issues also impinging any use of submitted video and such, I suspect that it is mostly that organizations that could use it have cut the staff necessary to be able to review and make use of it. Budgets usually look last at supporting those who do actual work, and police departments are no exception.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by khallow on Sunday January 15, @06:09AM (2 children)
Let's keep in mind that England isn't trying to stop the dumping of trash here, but interfering with otherwise lawful activity. It's not my country so it's not really any skin off my teeth, if they choose society-wide life-style manipulation instead of minor expansion of landfills. But seems to me that the whole advertising argument behind Brexit was to avoid nannying like this.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 15, @10:00PM (1 child)
The whole purpose of Brexit was precisely nannying like this from the upper class. Minute nit-picking of all the Downstairs riffraff while raking in profits owed to the Upstairs folk - landowners, landed gentry, plus a few celebrity soccer players and blondes with tits to keep up the razzle dazzle. Country = back again.
(Score: 2) by ChrisMaple on Monday January 16, @06:29AM
Brexit came about because Britain noticed that the rest of the E.U. was a financial burden on Britain. Britain took the risk that the advantages of freeing Britain from that drain and silly regulations sprouting from Brussels, would outweigh the advantages of being part of a single nation. Time will tell; the E.U. is still making insane laws.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Tork on Saturday January 14, @09:12PM
Slashdolt Logic: "25 year old jokes about sharks and lasers are +5, Funny." 💩
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 16, @01:59AM
I know people using old iphones. Despite what many say, iphones often last longer than cheap made in China phones.
I have plastic stuff dating from the 1970s (made before "biodegradable plastics" was a thing) that is still in use.
In contrast nowadays too much plastic stuff often just crumbles after a few years or even months. So you're forced to trash the crap and buy new crap.
There'd be less trash in the oceans if there was a lot less littering and improper waste disposal.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by organgtool on Saturday January 14, @06:34PM
In my area they banned single-use plastic bags almost a year ago. Shortly thereafter, many restaurants that had previously used cardboard for cups and takeout containers started using plastic ones. Plastic manufacturers aren't going to watch significant segments of their business go away without finding something to replace it, they'll just keep finding new uses for disposable plastic items. Unfortunately, we are not a smart species.
(Score: 2) by oumuamua on Saturday January 14, @06:53PM
My local takeout always puts in plastic forks and spoons without asking if they are needed. I had to specify every time I didn't need them and then inspect the bag to make sure they were left out. If you don't need something, don't take it and then throw it.
(Score: 2) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Saturday January 14, @06:59PM (4 children)
How does that happen?
There are 68M people in the UK: That's over 16 single-use plates and 62 single use piece of cutlery per inhabitant per year.
This raises 2 questions:
- 16 throwaway plates per person per year means everybody in the UK is either really keen on picnics, or too lazy to do the dishes too often per year.
- They use 4 throwaway pieces of cutlery per plate. I might understand 3 (1 fork, 1 spoon and 1 knife) but what's the 4th one?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Snotnose on Sunday January 15, @12:10AM (1 child)
You aren't supposed to ask questions like that. A year or so ago there was a campaign to ban straws. The numbers worked out to something like 250 straws per person per year. I emailed the TV reporter on this, all I got back was "we were told it was x straws per year." "Yeah, but if you do the math...." "Kids use a lot of straws" "how many kids are there compared to adults who use maybe 1-2 per month?" "crickets"
I just passed a drug test. My dealer has some explaining to do.
(Score: 3, Informative) by kazzie on Sunday January 15, @08:13AM
I can see the relative numbers of plates and cutlery as realistic. Bear in mind that fish and chips is a standard takeaway meal, and a single-use fork would be placed in the bag/carton automatically by many vendors, whether you wanted one or not. (some smarter vendors place a box on the desk, and invite those that want one to take one.)
That'd deal with a lot of the plates vs cutlery number imbalance. The fold-out cutlery sold with small pots of fruit / yoghurt etc as part of lunchtime meal deals from supermarkets would rack the number up, too.
All in all, I see the cutlery figure even easier to believe than the plates one.
(Score: 2) by zocalo on Sunday January 15, @09:45AM
One needs a separate teaspoon to stir one's tea. :)
Actually, I'm only half joking - they probaby *are* including the plastic stirrers you sometimes get with hot drinks as "cutlery" (maybe the lids too?) and polystyene food boxes (which are are form of plastic) in with the "plates". Even if you factor in that some outlets use a mix of plastic and other materials for this, I don't think those numbers are totally unrealistic - a *lot* of takeout/fast food tends to get consumed on nights out in the UK judging by what's left congealing in bins or on the street the morning after. What you definitely can't do though, is assume you can simply divide it out and get an average that makes sense for a typical consumer - or should that be "disposer"?
For instance, if someone gets a morning coffee with plastic stirrer every day on their way to work - that's over 200 items of "cutlery" a year (400 with lids). If someone else goes out almost every weekend with their friends and has a takeout in a polystyrene tray with plastic cutlery - that's ~50 "plates" and, depending on what is provided, ~50-100 items of cutlery each year. Neither of those are unrealistic scenarios, and both are way above the averages you calculated, which would offset those that don't really generate much, if any, of this kind of waste.
UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
(Score: 2) by theluggage on Sunday January 15, @05:40PM
Alice never uses disposable plates
Bob never uses disposable plates
Eve gets take-away nachos on a disposable plate every Friday to munch while she's trying to spy on Bob and Alice.
Between the three of them that's an average of about 16-17 disposable plates per person per year.
Or one person in 6 buys a pack of 100 disposable plates for a childrens' party once a year.
If you buy a salad box with a disposable fork every working day, that's ball-park 200 forks a year or 3 people's disposable cutlery "allowance".
When my parents got older they used to live off frozen meals on disposable trays (there are brands targeted at that specific market & home help services). So that's ~600 plates a year from just two people.
(Score: 3, Troll) by crafoo on Saturday January 14, @08:02PM
sure. that's what matters. that's what's wrong with England: not enough regulations about eating utensils.
nevermind that the country is burning down around you, the bond market is teetering on collapse, you're importing 10s of thousands of people that hate you, hate your culture, and want to see you dead.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by khallow on Saturday January 14, @08:23PM (1 child)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 15, @10:05PM
Son, you seem to have missed all the Opportunity in your report. Shrinking empires are a great place to start a business, as long as you're in pawn, payday loans and liquor shops.
(Score: 2, Disagree) by Ken_g6 on Saturday January 14, @08:26PM (5 children)
People on the go need disposable cutlery and packaging sometimes. What do they think can replace it? A deposit on every metal spoon, fork, and knife? That might work with chains, but getting a distinctive imprint on cutlery for a mom-and-pop eatery is surely harder.
Are they banning disposables in general, or just plastics? So that paper cups and boxes can stay? (And I hear they have gross paper straws now too instead of plastic.)
I live in Colorado where they're banning plastic grocery bags, and that's really annoying. People are likely to wind up using reusable bags as disposable.
I really don't see this whole disposable ban thing working. The fortune at the bottom of this page is very apt: "I've got a very bad feeling about this. -- Han Solo"
(Score: 4, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Saturday January 14, @10:07PM (2 children)
How 'bout wood? Wood fiber products are cheap. Almost as cheap as plastic. Take your pick of wood, but I think that bamboo ranks high on the candidate list. That goes right along with paper straws. When I was a kid, all of our disposable stuff was wood or paper, plastic was a novelty to us. I guess that lasted up to the ripe old age of about 8 or so.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 4, Informative) by deimtee on Sunday January 15, @12:01AM
They've already started with the disposable wood cutlery here in Oz. Mostly either bamboo or birch. It's nowhere near a majority yet, but it's increasing. Pretty much all disposable chopsticks are bamboo.
Disposable plastic straws are banned, they're either waxed paper or reusable (metal or silicone).
No problem is insoluble, but at Ksp = 2.943×10−25 Mercury Sulphide comes close.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Joe Desertrat on Sunday January 15, @12:51AM
Hemp is another possibility. Hell, if they are making single use paper products, is it possible they can use extremely cheap sources of cellulose like grasses?
The whole concept of disposable single use products comes from the belief we have infinite resources available to us, a fallacy that has probably helped lead to the downfall of many civilizations, and will eventually lead to the downfall of ours.
(Score: 2) by Username on Sunday January 15, @01:25PM
Maybe they'll get the real thin cheap stamped sheet metal forks and spoons from china and have those replace the plastic ones that get thrown into the road.
At least those people that go around with knives for protection (no guns in england) now have an excuse, no cutlery at the restaurant. BYOK. like it's the 16th century again.
(Score: 2) by theluggage on Sunday January 15, @06:32PM
Google "camping cutlery". Keep a set in your car, your backpack or your bike panniers (OK, the TSA won't like it but last I looked they still give you metal cutlery on a plane). Surprise - people may have to modify their behaviour if things are actually going to change.
Hard to tell from the sloppy journalism - some articles suggest its just plastic cutlery and expanded polystyrene plates & containers. The Tories aren't exactly the ecology party and some of this is "being seen to be doing something" but this won't be the only law/incentives on the subject. This isn't about carbon so much as the sort of non-biodegradable plastic that quickly winds up in the ocean. Paper boxes rot - "paper" cups are a more problematic item because many of them are plastic-coated and don't rot. There are certainly campaigns to reduce the use of disposable cups.
The idea is that people wind up remembering to take bags when they go shopping. It's really not hard. Or, they could just give you a paper bag (which won't still be around in 200 years) which would get the job done if you'd literally just walked off the street to buy a few items on impulse.
In the UK stores started years ago by offering small amounts of money back on re-used plastic bags, then the gov. made them charge a few pence for each new bag, then upped the price. So most people gradually got used to remembering to bring their own bags. It worked - they could probably introduce a total ban now if necessary, but they've broken the back of the problem. This is all a numbers game that helps reduce the amount of plastic waste and especially what gets thrown by the roadside. I used to have a drawer stuffed with old plastic bags which, periodically, got thrown in the trash to make room for more. After a few years of prodding I've got half-a-dozen fabric bags that last for years and only a couple of multi-use carrier bags (which do get re used a few times then used as bin liners) from when I've forgotten or needed extras. The old "free" bags used to be ridiculously thin, often ripped after one use and weren't even any good as bin liners.
The real problem is to make sure that the "necessary" waste gets disposed of properly and doesn't end up in the ocean or groundwater.