‘The trade-offs between plastics and substitutes (or complete bans) … could create negative knock-on impacts on the environment’

The United Kingdom is seeking to ban single-use plastic items such as cutlery and plates “to curb the problem of waste polluting rivers and seas,” reports the Financial Times. Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey is expected to announce plans to outlaw the products and replace them with biodegradable alternatives. 

However, as previously reported by Frontline News, many environmental experts are not in agreement with plastic bans by governments.  

A Danish study on plastic bags, for example, found that single-use bags have a much lower environmental impact than other types of multi-use bags, challenging commonplace government bans on single-use bags in supermarkets. 

Figures presented by Our World in Data show the “number of times a given grocery bag type would have to be reused to have as low an environmental impact as a standard single-use plastic bag.” According to the data, an organic cotton shopping bag would have to be reused 20,000 times to have as low an environmental impact as a plastic bag. A conventional cotton bag would have to be reused 7,100 times and a composite bag 870 times.

“Plastic is a unique material with many benefits: it’s cheap, versatile, lightweight, and resistant,” comment Dr. Max Roser and Dr. Hannah Ritchie for Our World in Data. The researchers also recommend against plastic bans. “This makes it a valuable material for many functions. It can also provide environmental benefits: it plays a critical role in maintaining food quality, safety and reducing food waste. The trade-offs between plastics and substitutes (or complete bans) are therefore complex and could create negative knock-on impacts on the environment.” 

Furthermore, most plastic that ends up in the ocean comes from middle- to low-income countries, particularly in Asia and Africa. In higher-income countries, nearly all plastic waste is incinerated, recycled, or sent to well-managed landfills. The UK, for instance, is responsible for about 0.07% of plastic found in the ocean, according to data from 2019. 

The UK government also banned plastic straws in 2020, along with stirrers and cotton buds, though plastic straws account for only 0.03% of the ocean’s plastics. 

“In general, plastic tends to be cheap and has significantly lower greenhouse gas emissions, energy, water and fertilizer inputs than alternatives such as paper, aluminium, cotton or glass,” says Dr. Ritchie.