Simply Soft

Plastic straws, stirrers and cotton buds are banned in England from today.

The legislation should have come into force in April but was put back because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Following the success of the ban on microbeads and the 5p charge on single-use plastic bags, the proposal to increase the ban to additional single use plastic everyday items such as straws, cotton buds and stirrers was fairly straight forward and due to be effective early 2020.

April had been the original deadline for the new legislation but, coming in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and given its impact on supply chains, the government decided to postpone the ban until now.

From today however, it is now illegal in almost all circumstances for businesses to give them out to customers.

The ban on straws, stirrers and cotton buds is just the next step in the battle against plastic pollution and pledges to protect our ocean and the environment for future generations.

According to statistics it is estimated that