All single-use items could face extra charges as ministers tackle ‘throwaway culture’

The move hopes to replicate the 10p carrier bag charges across all single use items

Tonnes of single use items end up in landfill (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

New powers allowing ministers to introduce charges on all single-use items - in addition to plastic - are set to be announced on Wednesday by the government.

Ministers will introduce the new laws to tackle “throwaway culture” and could see the 10p carrier bag policy replicated across all single-use items such as straws and coffee stirrers, the i reported.

The use of carrier bags has reduced by 95 per cent in supermarkets since the 10p charge was introduced in 2015, and government ministers are hoping that the move will encourage a similar reaction encouraging people to use more sustainable items.

The move is led by Labour’s Shadow Environment Minister Baroness Jones of Whitchurch, who passed an amendment to the government’s flagship Environment Bill first introduced in January 2020.

Plastic carrier bag usage has decreased since charges were introduced (PA)

The bill already contained laws to make it easier for ministers to introduce charges on single-use plastics, but the amendments push to introduce charges on all single-use products.

“This change to the Environment Bill will mean we can put an end to ‘here-today gone-tomorrow’ throwaway culture and move towards sustainable alternatives,” a Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs source told the i.

Have you got a story you would like us to report on? Contact us by clicking here

They added: “We have already made huge progress turning the tide on plastic, banning the supply of plastic straws, stirrers and cotton buds, while our carrier bag charge has cut sales by 95 per cent in the main supermarkets. But new powers will mean we can turn our target to any single-use item destined to landfill.”

Baroness Jones told the paper that the implementation of the amendment is an important step in ending reliance on single-use items. She added that there was a clear need for a wider range of measures to tackle “throwaway culture that creates unnecessary waste and litter.”

On the single-use items amendment and Environment Bill more widely, Ruth Chambers from the Greener UK coalition said: “This is very welcome news. A plastics only measure would have simply moved producers and consumers to single-use alternatives that are often unrecyclable.

“It is right that the Environment Bill should tackle our throwaway culture head on,” she added.