Ban on polluting ‘microbeads’ enters into force in UK
With manufacturing ban in place, a ban on the sale of products containing the plastics will be introduced later this year
By Anmar Frangoul
The U.K. ban on the manufacture of products containing “microbeads” has come into force, with the government claiming it will prevent “billions” of the small polluting plastics from entering the ocean each year.
In an announcement on Tuesday, the U.K.’s Environment Minister Therese Coffey said that producers of personal care products and cosmetics would not be allowed to add microbeads to “rinse-off” goods such as toothpastes, face scrubs and shower gels.
“The world’s seas and oceans are some of our most valuable natural assets and I am determined we act now to tackle the plastic that devastates our precious marine life,” Coffey said in a statement.
“Microbeads are entirely unnecessary when there are so many natural alternatives available, and I am delighted that from today cosmetics manufacturers will no longer be able to add this harmful plastic to their rinse-off products,” she added.
The tiny beads of plastic help with exfoliating the skin, but are seen as a blight on wildlife, particularly marine life, and environmental groups welcomed the ban.
