Molly Scott Cato, the Green Party MEP for the South West, has welcomed the EU move to bring in tough new measures on single-use plastics, imposing a ban on straws, cutlery, cotton buds, and plastic cups and food containers made out of expanded polystyrene.

The new Single Use Plastics Directive will also force tobacco producers to pay for the collection of cigarette butts and introduce collection targets for drinks bottles along with a requirement to redesign drinks caps to tether them to bottles.

The directive also includes a Green proposal for a complete ban on oxo-degradable plastic, which is often labelled as biodegradable but in reality fragments into microplastics.

Molly Scott Cato said: ’The starting gun has been fired in the race to the top on single-use plastics. It’s clear the EU are out in front while the UK is being weighed down by further consultation, held back by industry lobbyists and staggering towards a way too distant finishing line. The EU is prepared to make tracks now and get tough on manufacturers and retailers through outright bans on a range of single-use plastics and setting tight targets.’