The European Union (EU) has reached a tentative agreement on a new law aimed at reducing packaging waste and phasing out single-use plastics, with exceptions for certain sectors (Reuters, europa).

England recently announced that it will ban single-use plastic cutlery, plates, and trays given out by restaurants and cafés starting in October 2023 in an effort to reduce pollution. The new ban follows the country’s previous ban on single-use plastic straws, stirrers, and plastic-stemmed cotton buds in 2020, and similar bans approved by the European Union in 2018 and enacted in Scotland and Wales in 2022 (N.Y. Times).

Last Monday, the Canadian government published final regulations banning the manufacture and import of certain single-use plastics by the end of 2022 (Reuters).

On December 5, the Peruvian government unanimously passed a law prohibiting the manufacturing, importation, distribution, and consumption of single-use plastic bags. All single-use plastic bags, along with straws and other plastic products that cannot be recycled, will be phased out over the next three years. Peru joins more than 60 other countries that have imposed bans or taxes on single-use plastics. For the full story, see https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-peru-environment-plastic/peru-to-phas….

On October 10, the European Parliament's Environment and Public Health Committee approved a draft proposal to ban single-use plastic products from the EU market beginning in 2021. Products under the proposal include those made of oxo-degradable plastics, fast-food containers made of expanded polystyrene, single-use cutlery, and drinking straws. The plan also introduces collection and recycling targets for fishing gear containing plastic, which represents 27% of waste found on Europe's beaches. The full European Parliament is scheduled to vote on the proposal at the end of the month.