The story:
New Zealand is banning nearly all single-use plastics by 2025. The ban includes cotton buds, bags, cutlery, plates and bowls, straws and fruit labels. Officials in New Zealand estimate that the policy will remove more than two billion single-use plastic items from the country’s landfills and environment each year. The ban will be phased in between 2022-2025.
New Zealand citizens are noted to be some of the biggest waste producers in the world, generating an estimated 159g of plastic waste per person. Countries worldwide are starting to wake up to the issue; the UK introduced a ban on plastic straws, stirrers and cotton buds in 2020. The EU has voted for a similar ban to be introduced this year.
Higginson says:
Single-use plastics are an ever-growing problem that we face. We know that our throwaway culture with these products is a massive environmental issue across the globe. Now is the time to act. New Zealand is showing how serious they are at tackling the problem and are establishing themselves as green leaders.