Businesses in Nottinghamshire are being reminded that from 1 October they will not be allowed to supply, sell, or offer certain single-use plastic items. The ban covers a wide range of single-use items including plastic cutlery, plates, bowls, balloon sticks and certain styles of polystyrene cup and food containers that are used to supply ready-to-eat food.

Nottinghamshire County Council Trading Standards is advising businesses, such as sandwich shops, takeaways and other retailers, to think about sourcing alternatives if they haven’t already done so, as they risk being fined if they use the banned items.

The ban has been introduced as part of an effort to tackle plastic pollution and avoidable littering. Plastic pollution takes hundreds of years to break down and inflicts serious damage to our environment. Around the world, over one million birds die every year from eating or getting tangled in plastic waste. Plastic pollution is also a source of greenhouse gas emissions, from the production and manufacture of the plastic itself to the way it is disposed of.

In England approximately 2.7 billion items of single-use cutlery, and 721 million single-use plates are estimated to be used every year, and it is believed that only 10% of these are recycled. It is expected that banning these items will have a significant impact in reducing plastic waste and littering in England. 

There are some exemptions to the ban, depending on the item. If business owners in Nottinghamshire are unsure how the new rules will affect them, they can apply for up to ten hours of free bespoke advice and support from Trading Standards officers at Nottinghamshire County Council. Businesses can find out more and apply for the free support by completing a ‘Business Advice Request Form’ on the Nottinghamshire Trading Standards website: Free Trading Standards Business Advice | Nottinghamshire County Council. After filling out this simple form, the business will be contacted by Nottinghamshire Trading Standards within one working day.

Councillor Tom Smith, Deputy Cabinet Member for Communities said: “We fully support the ban on single-use plastics, as it’s vital that we reduce the amount of plastic that ends up polluting rivers and seas and harming our wildlife. Our Trading Standards officers are here to support Nottinghamshire firms so we would encourage local businesses to get in touch and make use of the free specialist support that we are offering to help them meet the new rules around single-use plastics.”

Further information about the ban is available on the government website: Single-use plastics ban: plates, bowls, trays, containers, cutlery and balloon sticks – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)- external site 

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