Single-use plastic cutlery and plates along with polystyrene cups are to be banned in England.

Their use is expected to be outlawed - most likely before the end of the year - as the government attempts to cut down on plastic items that either spend years in landfill or which end up in rivers and seas posing a risk to wildlife.

However plastic plates, bowls and trays that are used as packaging for takeaway food and drink in supermarkets and shops will not be covered by the new ruling - which is expected to apply to packaging for food and drink eaten at restaurants, from cafes or takeaways.

This is reportedly because that takeaway packaging - known as primary packaging - is to be covered by a separate scheme which will make manufacturers contribute to the cost of disposing of their plastic wrappers and containers.

According to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs the average person will use 18 single use plastic plates and up to 37 single use plastic items of cutlery every year. Alongside the risk these items pose in littering our lakes and oceans they also take hundreds of years to decompose say officials.

The UK Government banned single-use plastic straws, stirrers and cotton buds in England in 2020. The next stage has been prompted by a public consultation, launched by Defra between November 2021 and February 202, the results of which are expected to be published later this month.

But in an interview with the Mail, Environment Secretary Therese Coffey said confirmed that a ban was now on the horizon. She said: "I am determined to drive forward action to tackle this issue head on. We know there is more to do, and we have again listened to the public’s calls.

"This new ban will have a huge impact to stop the pollution of billions of pieces of plastic and help to protect the natural environment for future generations."

In November, McDonald's announced it was phasing out all of its plastic cutlery as part of an effort to rid all its restaurants of single-use plastics.
The fast food giant, which replaced plastic straws for paper ones in 2018 ahead of the official government ban, and had also swapped plastic salad packaging for paper and removed the plastic lids from its dessert range has now also ditched its iconic McFlurry plastic stirrer in favour of a spoon made from paper.