One month until new ban of certain single-use plastics comes into place

From 1 October 2023, businesses in England may no longer supply, sell or offer certain single-use plastic items. If businesses continue to supply these items after 1 October, they could face fines.  

The ban on these items will include:

• online and over-the-counter sales and supply, with the exception of plastic plates, bowls and trays when used as packaging
• items from new and existing stock
• all types of single-use plastic, including biodegradable, compostable and recycled
• items wholly or partly made from plastic, including coating or lining

For more information regarding the ban and any excemptions, please visit the single-use plastics ban page on our website. 

If you’re a business owner and have any questions about the new rules, you can email plastics.consultation@dfra.gov.uk. 

Why we need to tackle single-use plastic waste 

Plastic pollution takes hundreds of years to break down, damaging our oceans, rivers and land in the process.  

Plastic production and burning plastic that cannot be recycled also produces harmful greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change.  

If plastic production continues at current levels, it’s estimated that these emissions will jeopardize efforts to prevent global temperatures from rising more than 1.5°C. This means we must minimise single-use plastic waste to tackle to the climate and biodiversity crisis.  

Preventing plastic pollution 

Councillor Tim Rowkins, Chair of the City Environment, South Downs & The Sea Committee, said: 

“The amount of plastic waste we produce as a society is completely unsustainable, and action to significantly reduce it is long overdue. As such, we welcome these new rules, which will help reduce plastic pollution in our city and our environment. 

“Production of plastics is a large contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, and so these changes are also crucial to our efforts to achieve net zero.  

“We’d like to thank the many businesses here in Brighton & Hove who have been ahead of the curve on this and moved to more sustainable materials, but this legislation will encourage more local cafes, restaurants and takeaways to operate in a more sustainable way.” 

Reducing plastic waste in council venues 

The Brighton Centre has been working to reduce single-use plastic waste and has not used plastic plates or cutlery for several years, instead serving food in carboard containers or on bamboo plates. All cutlery offered is wooden, including coffee stirrers.  

The Brighton Centre also stopped selling plastic bottles of soft drink years ago and instead sell aluminium cans. While plastic cups are still used for concerts, staff are working with the venue's waste company to find a fully traceable and recyclable alternative in the coming months.  

Restaurants using sustainable packaging  

Yellowave Café has phased out all single-use cups. Instead, takeaway customers can use their own keep cup, purchase a Yellowave Keep Cup, or use a donated crockery mug.

Yellowave Keep Cups sell for £6 and include a free hot drink. They are made in Cornwall from 100% recycled coffee cups.  

Resources for businesses 

For more information about how you can make your business more sustainable and support our citywide shift towards a circular economy, see our climate information for businesses webpage