UK is planning to ban the use of cotton buds, plastic drinking straws and other single-use plastics from sale in England from 2019 onwards. By doing this UK wants to stem the rot in pollution of the world?s rivers and oceans. A consultation will start later in 2018, and a ban could be enforced as early as next year.

Theresa May, Prime Minister of UK, will also persuade the Commonwealth heads of government to join the efforts to save the environment. According to her, "The Commonwealth is a unique organization with a huge diversity of wildlife, and environments – so it is vital we act now."

Cotton buds are often flushed down the lavatory and end up being eaten by birds and marine life. It is estimated that there are 150m tonnes of plastic in the world?s oceans, and over 100,000 sea mammals die from eating or getting tangled up in plastic waste. Plastic microbeads have already been banned;  the introduction of the 5p charge on plastic bags has led to a big reduction in their consumption by public. Campaigners said these moves might reduce the country's marine plastic pollution by half.

More efforts like the Treasury's research into the impact of a charge on disposable coffee cups and a deposit return scheme on plastic bottles are also being planned to curtail the pollution.

The above moves are great initiatives at the government level and welcome move.

Source: BBC News