Over the past few years, there has been a dedicated effort to reduce the use of single-use plastic. We have seen that plastic straws have been banned. We have also seen plastic cotton buds and stirrers eradicated. Now, we can expect to see sachets banned in the next plastic crackdown. This means that when you go to takeaway outlets or restaurants, they will no longer serve you the likes of vinegar, mayonnaise, and ketchup in sachets. You will also not be able to get the likes of milk in plastic sachets when staying at hotels. This means that there is a lot for those in hospitality to think about when it comes to how they are going to offer these important condiments to their customers.
New curbs are being introduced all of the time to fight the use of single-use plastics and this is simply the next step in ensuring that single-use plastics are no longer part of our day-to-day lives. Takeaways and restaurants are going to be prohibited from distributing plastics as part of continual measures that are designed to reduce waste that is not easy to recycle and which will typically end up in the sea or land film.
Mini milk pots, plastic plates, and popular extras, such as sauces or salad dressing, may also be banned across the country. This is part of plans currently being put together by the Department for Environment, Farming, and Rural Affairs.
In November, the government launched a call for evidence on different ways to tackle pollution from single-use plastic items that are commonly littered, for example, coffee cups, wet wipes, and sachets. It then said that one of the options included banning these items or together.
The report concluded that single-use sauce sachets could cause significant harm to the terrestrial and marine environment when they are not disposed of in the correct manner. Because they are heavily contaminated with food and they have a very small size, it is very difficult to segregate and clean these items, which means that in most cases people will not go to the effort of recycling them. A government source has said that while alternatives do exist, a ban is likely because sachets are particularly problematic.
Research has been conducted regarding this and there is overwhelming support across the United Kingdom regarding banning plastic sachets. Almost 8 in every 10 Britons surveyed said that plastic sample sachets should be banned across the country. Furthermore, they said that the government should not ignore the impact that plastic sachets have on pollution.
The good news is that alternatives do already exist in the market today. For example, Snappd has created a 100 per cent recyclable sachet. This would eradicate the issue associated with recycling sachets that are currently on the market today. This means that takeaways and restaurants would not have to change their approach in terms of offering sauces and condiments to their customers. They can simply offer recyclable packaging instead, which would eliminate the worry associated with single-use plastic while also ensuring that customers enjoy the same service and are able to get all of the extras that they tend to enjoy when consuming a meal or a drink at a restaurant or hotel.
While the ban has not yet been implemented, it is safe to say that there are going to be some major changes in the future regarding the use of single-use plastic. Eventually, we will get to the point whereby single-use plastic is fully eradicated from society. Therefore, it makes sense for businesses to start thinking about how they can adapt to this and what changes they can make to do better for the environment. It is much better to be proactive and to think about this now, rather than finding yourself worrying and having to make urgent changes as soon as the ban is implemented.
It is somewhat safe to say that, with straws and earbuds being banned in 2020, it will be a part of society at some point or another for sachets to follow the same route. Therefore, by addressing this issue now, you can make sure that you have already adjusted your business and you do not have to worry about any sort of disruption or about the inability to offer sauces and extras in the future.
