Single-use plastic cutlery and plates to be banned in England

‘A plastic fork can take 200 years to decompose’, said environment secretary Thérèse Coffey

Single-use items such as plastic cutlery, plates and trays are to be banned in England in a bid to reduce pollution, the government has confirmed.

Figures suggest that every year England uses about 1.1bn single-use plates and 4.25bn pieces of such cutlery, only 10% of which are recycled after being used.