UK to ban plastic microbeads from 2018

The UK will ban the use of plastic microbeads from personal care products from next year, the Environment Secretary has confirmed.

In his first major speech in the role, Michael Gove said on July 21 that following the Government’s consultation last year into the use of the beads, legislation will now be put in place to ban their inclusion in the manufacture of personal care products from January 2018.

Microbeads, which are often included in products such as shower gels, body scrubs or toothpaste as exfoliating agents, are washed away during use and build up in the marine environment where Mr Gove said they have “a devastating effect” on marine life.

Reducing ocean waste

Mr Gove said that the move would be combined with other measures to reduce plastic entering the ocean, including litter reduction incentives.

“There is more we can do to protect our oceans, so we will explore new methods of reducing the amount of plastic - in particular plastic bottles - entering our seas,” he said.

“I want to improve incentives for reducing waste and litter, and review the penalties available to deal with polluters - all part of a renewed strategy on waste and resources that looks ahead to opportunities outside the EU.”

The Minister said that the reduction in the use of single-use plastic bags, combined with the amount of money raised for good causes, following the Government’s 2015 implementation of a 5p charge was demonstrative of the success that nationwide intervention can have on the environment.

The UK as a leader

Following this, he later said that outside of the European Union, there is scope for Great Britain “not just to set the very highest standards in marine conservation, but also to be a global leader in environmental policy across the board.”

This, he said, included taking “smarter and more targeted approaches to the improvements that we want to see”, such as incentivising recycling “according to the environmental impact and value of the material, rather than a crude weight-based target that currently focuses recycling on things that happen to be heavy.”

Plastics Industry Support

The global plastics industry is supportive of meaures introduced to reduce marine litter. Chairman of the World Plastics Council, SABIC’s Abdulrahman Al-Fageeh, said earlier this year that “this urgent issue requires all of us working together”.

In April, the British Plastics Federation (BPF) and PlasticsEurope also announced a collaboration with the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) on a new project for schools aiming to highlight the importance of responsible litter disposal.