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Plastic bans are laws that prohibit the use of
polymers A polymer () is a substance or material that consists of very large molecules, or macromolecules, that are constituted by many repeating subunits derived from one or more species of monomers. Due to their broad spectrum of properties, b ...
manufactured from petroleum or other
fossil fuels A fossil fuel is a flammable carbon compound- or hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the buried remains of prehistoric organisms (animals, plants or microplanktons), a process that occurs within geologica ...
, given the pollution and threat to biodiversity that they cause. A growing number of countries have instituted plastic bag bans, and a ban on single-use plastic (such as throw-away forks or plates), and are looking to spread bans to all
plastic packaging Plastic containers are containers made exclusively or partially of plastic. Plastic containers are ubiquitous either as single-use or reuseable/durable plastic cups, plastic bottles, plastic bags, foam food containers, Tupperware, plastic t ...
, plastic clothing (such as
polyester Polyester is a category of polymers that contain one or two ester linkages in every repeat unit of their main chain. As a specific material, it most commonly refers to a type called polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Polyesters include some natura ...
and
acrylic fiber Acrylic fibers are synthetic fibers made from a polymer ( polyacrylonitrile) with an average molecular weight of ~100,000, about 1900 monomer units. For a fiber to be called "acrylic" in the US, the polymer must contain at least 85% acrylonit ...
, or any other form of unnecessary plastic that could be replaced with an easily biodegradable, non-fossil-fuel or non-polluting alternative. Plastics biodegrade over a long period of time, and may not biodegrade fully (so that they are absorbed into the ecosystemic) leaving traces of
microplastics Microplastics are "synthetic solid particles or polymeric matrices, with regular or irregular shape and with size ranging from 1 μm to 5 mm, of either primary or secondary manufacturing origin, which are insoluble in water." Microplastics a ...
, ranging from 450 years for a PET plastic bottle (type 1) to thousands "never" for
polypropylene Polypropylene (PP), also known as polypropene, is a thermoplastic polymer used in a wide variety of applications. It is produced via chain-growth polymerization from the monomer Propene, propylene. Polypropylene belongs to the group of polyolefin ...
-based products, including food containers (type 5).Types of Plastic - A Complete Plastic Numbers Guide
(2020) YesStraws.com


Plastic bag bans


Single-use plastic bans

The European Union Plastic Products Directive 2019 banned single-use plastic plates, cutlery, straws, balloon sticks and cotton buds; cups, food and beverage containers made of expanded polystyrene, and all products made of oxo-degradable plastic, and to fishing gear containing plastic. The fuller list of plastics banned are listed in the Annex to the Directive.Plastic Products Directive (EU
2019/904
Annex From October 2023, the UK government has banned "single-use plastics" in England, which are defined to include a range of products, but does not include "shelf-ready pre-packaged food items" found in most supermarkets. China has a phased-in program of plastic bans from 2020 to 2025 on products from bags, to straws, to cutlery, to certain packaging, to items in hotels. , 12 states in the United States (California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington) have banned single-use plastic bags. In Nigeria, reports shows that over 60 million plastic sachets are used and disposed daily, and only about 12% is recycled. The potential hazards from these reports has prompted the ban of single use plastics in Nigeria from 2025.


Plastic packaging and clothing bans

There have been broader calls for bans on use of plastics in all packaging, particularly in supermarkets and products, and in clothing.e.g. S Usborne, 'The big fashion fight: can we remove all the toxic, invisible plastic from our clothes?' (16 July 2019
Guardian
/ref>


See also

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Bioplastic Bioplastics are plastic materials produced from renewable biomass sources. Timeline of plastic development, Historically, bioplastics made from natural materials like shellac or Celluloid, cellulose had been the first plastics. Since the end of ...
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Cutlery Cutlery (also referred to as silverware, flatware, or tableware) includes any hand implement used in preparing, serving, and especially eating food in Western culture. A person who makes or sells cutlery is called a cutler. While most cutlers ...
*
Phase-out of fossil fuels Fossil fuel phase-out is the proposed gradual global reduction of the use and production of fossil fuels to zero, to reduce air pollution, limit climate change, and strengthen energy independence. It is part of the ongoing renewable energy tra ...
*
Phase-out of fossil fuel vehicles A phase-out of fossil fuel vehicles are proposed bans or discouragement (for example via taxes) on the sale of new fossil-fuel powered vehicles or use of existing fossil-fuel powered vehicles, as well the encouragement of using modal share, oth ...
* Phase-out of gas boilers *
Montreal Protocol The Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer is an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of numerous substances that are responsible for ozone depletion. It was agreed on 16 ...


Notes

{{reflist, 2 Low-carbon economy Technological phase-outs Plastics and the environment Fossil fuel phase-out