The government has launched a ban restricting the use of single use plastics and polystyrene packaging sold over the counter and online in fast food restaurants.
Ministers hope this move will make the industry more environmentally friendly. Restaurant managers will be expected to make the change in a matter of weeks.
The ban, which launched on the 1 October, is set to cause some inconvenience for some restaurant owners who may have a backlog of leftover plastics, polystyrene containers and other item included in the ban.
Alfred James, who works at Pizza Crust in Headingley Leeds said: “It is good to change to paper, but we need to find a way to buy paper ones as they don’t have it in the warehouse.”
The ban could result in more waste to begin with as the restaurant owners dispose of the plastic and polystyrene items.
The government has been working for the past few years on creating a less polluted environment for future generations.
Councillor and leader of the Green group in Leeds, David Blackburn said that the council banned the use of single use plastics inside the council buildings for some time.
He said: “We can’t have a society where our resources are not reusable or recyclable. It’s not good to recycle it’s good not to have the waste in first place.”
He added: “Something you can’t recycle; we shouldn’t be using anyway.”
He suggested we go back to using glass bottles and glass containers rather than plastic and that the process of handling waste should be as follows:
Reduce Repair Reuse and as a last resort recycle.
Cllr Blackburn raised the issue of overconsumption of takeaways and in general as a collective and that we’ve stopped caring about what is best for our environment.
The government plans to continue their action against pollution and work to improve the environment and this plastic ban is set to be followed by more.
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