France has just passed a major ban on plastic cups and cutlery.
The law, which will come into effect in 2020, will ensure that all disposable plates, cups, knives and forks will have to be made of biologically-sourced materials and can be composted.
And this is just the latest part of France’s transition into a greener country.
Earlier this year, supermarkets and stores in France were told they could no longer hand out plastic bags.
The law was first proposed by the country’s Greens group, the EELV party, in a bid to cut both the energy used in plastic production and the waste and pollution caused by its disposal.
Every year around 4.73billion plastic cups are thrown away in France. Only a tiny 1% are actually recycled.
Should the UK follow suit and ban plastic cups, plates and cutlery?
Yes, definitely!
No, definitely not!
However, packaging companies are getting frightened by the move.
Pack2Go’s Europe secretary general Eamonn Bates said: ‘We are urging the European Commission to do the right thing and to take legal action against France for infringing European law.
‘If they don’t, we will.’ From METRO.