EU will use powerful chemical laws to stop most microplastics and microbeads being added to various products. The European Chemicals Agency says 10,000-60,000 tonnes of microplastics which are intentionally added to products leak into the environment annually, are impossible to remove and last for thousands of years
The Environmental Investigation Agency was born out of a ground-breaking whaling investigation and, almost three-and-a-half decades later, our Ocean work remains a central pillar of what we do
The UK Government’s ban on plastic microbeads has officially come into force today. The new law was supported by both Houses of Parliament last month and will ban the use of all solid microplastic ingredients in rinse-off cosmetic products
The cosmetics industry has submitted a statement to the European Commission objecting to the scope of the UK Government's plan to introduce a legislative ban on plastic microbeads. As a member of the Microbeads Coalition we object to limiting the ban since damaging microplastics would continue to flow into the sea.
On the day the Government’s microbeads consultation closes, businesses have joined environmental campaigners in calling for a comprehensive ban on microbeads. Campaigners have warned that the current proposals would see the ban limited to microplastic ingredients of 5mm or less in ‘rinse off’ personal care and cosmetic products, while other products containing microplastics could continue to be sold
YouGov polling for the Microbeads Coalition shows that a large proportion of people wash make-up and skincare products down the drain – yet while some of these product types have been shown to contain microplastic ingredients, they could fall outside of the UK Government’s proposed microbeads ban