Efforts to address global plastic pollution took a significant step forward today as world governments agreed to establish a specialist group tasked with examining options to combat marine plastic pollution
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
The European Parliament’s Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety backed robust moves to curb sources of marine plastic pollution as part of a wider suite of measures designed to reduce waste which will form the basis for the Parliament’s vote later this year on the Circular Economy Package
A coalition of environmental groups has welcomed a UK Government announcement that it intends to ban microbeads from personal care products but pointed out that the current proposals don’t go far enough
Responding to the Environmental Audit Committee’s report on microplastics, a joint statement by the Environmental Investigation Agency, Fauna & Flora International, Greenpeace UK and the Marine Conservation Society