11th January 2023
Hurrah, single-use plastics are being banned.
They are being banned in the European Union:
And now they are to be banned here:
Hurrah, hurrah.
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But.
Some followers of this blog will say that the “Hurrahs” seem odd, given my general wariness of “banning” things.
(This 2011 New Statesman post is still one of my favourites.)
Surely: if we outlaw plastic forks, only the outlaws will have plastic forks?
There is something to that: banning a thing is not a magical spell.
All a legal prohibition means is that the thing prohibited is attended by different legal consequences than before.
And certainly banning a thing in-and-of-itself is rarely an instant solution to any problem.
Here, however, may be an example of where a ban is proportionate and likely to achieve its public interest goal, without adverse externalities.
If you really want a plastic fork, then presumably you can still make them.
If you collect plastic forks, you can still add to your collection from a suitable dealer and proudly show that collection off on your Instagram account.
The ban is instead about the use of such products in the marketplace.
According to the consultation document, the government has been mindful that there are substitutes in place, and the impact of the ban has been assessed:
The government also said that banning such things is not its preference: 
This is a sensible approach, and it is heartening to see that there is considered and apparently evidence-based approach to putting in place a prohibition.
If only all proposed prohibitions – and the continuation of existing prohibitions – were subject to such a considered approach.
Prohibitions have their place in public policy – this is a liberal blog and not a libertarian one – but too often in politics and media the “ban” is a form of magical thinking.
Let us hope this is not a single-use policy approach, and that it is recycled for other policy areas.
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So, the alternative would be to carry a Swiss Army knife around with you complete with a fork, spoon and toothpick. Only problem is that you could be arrested for carrying an offensive weapon.
The slogan is ‘single use plastics’, the description gives examples of plastic utensils used for fast food. Many long lived uses of plastics are also ‘single use’ if the component is robust (eg an in-body medical appliance) or even in an aeroplane, but they may well reduce carbon footprint through reducing the weight of what is being transported or saving consumption of more energy consumptive materials. As ever, unless the definitions are well defined, unintended consequences result. For genuine short term, single use applications, genuinely recycled wood or cardboard can substitute more energy intensive, long degradation life-cycle products such as plastics (or steel) but the devil, as always, is in the life cycle analysis. I do now, though, horde ‘single use’ plastic bags …… to use again and again rather than pay a fine.
Nice final paragraph there, very nice 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Interesting to note that littering is already banned but that ban has not prevented littering. So, the main justification for banning single use plastics is that another ban has failed to have the intended effect.
Littering is a problem, but so is non-recyclable plastic in landfill. Personally, I’d tax all plastic, but that might be unworkable given how many plastic-wrapped doodads are imported.
The ban itself should work ok: cafes and supermarkets must be the vast majority of single-use forks, cups, etc, and it’s hard for them to avoid detection.
Who says plastic cutlery and plates are single use?
I understand that prisoners, for example, are given such items at the beginning of their stay and, unless they break, use them indefinitely.
Will they be given metal utensils or “single use” of a different material when this takes effect? I doubt it somehow.
The most interesting thing is that we are fitting in with EU law, voluntarily. Perhaps there were concerns about plastic cutlery being smuggled into the EU via Northern Ireland. Or indeed the creation of a new class of goods that were available in Britain but not in Northern Ireland. The DUP demanding the right to use plastic forks….their British birthright….
This is a good step forward, but there are materials described as ‘biodegradable’ that in practice barely qualify, so an improved ban would specify more carefully the level of degradability required.
I get my picnic equipment by calling a number on my burner phone, and meeting ‘John’ in a specified back alley at a specified time. Strictly cash.
I’m trying to give it up, but, you kmow, just one more time….