BANNING single-use plastic cutlery and plates is ‘the next logical step’ for Jersey, the politician who campaigned successfully for recent legislation covering plastic bags has said.
As UK media reports indicate that England is on the verge of following Scotland and Wales in banning a range of plastic items, Deputy Inna Gardiner said she welcomed the move, which would affect any restaurants, supermarkets, cafés, kiosks and takeaways offering these utensils to customers.
Deputy Gardiner said: ‘It’s always been clear to me that banning sinsingle-use plastic bags was the first step and a ban of single-use cutlery and plates is the next logical step for Jersey. Reuse and recycle is the way forward.’
She cautioned that it had taken almost two and a half years for legislation banning single-use plastic bags and imposing a minimum charge for reusable bags to be implemented, which happened last July.
But Deputy Gardiner said that the two-year timeframe had included some important steps, adding: ‘The consultation, publicity and preparation for the ban was extremely important for all stakeholders.
‘I am still unclear what the UK timescale to enact the ban will be and whether such a long consultation period will be possible for us but I would welcome the introduction of a ban on single-use cutlery and plates at the same time in Jersey as in the UK.’
Infrastructure Minister Tom Binet, who has responsibility for the Single Use Plastics Law, said he was pleased by the way traders and customers had adjusted to the new legislation, adding that he believed the ‘bring your own bag’ culture was starting to become embedded in Islanders’ shopping habits.
He said: ‘The way we designed the law allows for further types of plastic to be banned in future, but we want to first see how this initial step settles in before looking to expand it further.
‘Our Trading Standards team will watch with interest to see how the restrictions on plastic cutlery, plates and polystyrene trays are implemented in England.’
Nigel Jones, chair of environmental group Jersey in Transition, said there were far more important issues facing the Island when it came to climate change.
‘A wider ban on plastic items would be a step in the right direction, but it’s a case of too little, too slow, I’m afraid,’ he said.
‘There are much bigger things we should be tackling related to transport and heating of buildings, and the government knows this.’
Mr Jones added that he would welcome the positive effect of a ban in reducing the amount of plastic escaping as litter and leading to the pollution of the seas by microplastics.
UK Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey is expected to spell out the timetable for a ban in England in the coming days. Scotland brought in a ban on a range of single-use plastics in June 2022, while similar legislation will come into force in Wales in autumn 2023.
