EU to ban plastic straws and cotton buds in effort to cut pollution

Brussels: The European Union has proposed banning single use plastic products like cotton buds, straws, stirs and balloon sticks when alternatives are available in an attempt to reduce litter on  beaches and ocean beds.

Plastic straws are on the EU's environmental hit list.

The European Commission said its proposal would seek to cut marine litter in half for the 10 most prominent items and avoid environmental damage estimated at over $250 billion over the next dozen years.

EU Vice-President Frans Timmermans said that plastic cutlery would not be banned completely, but steps would be taken to have them made of sustainable materials when possible.

Read the story from The Age - “EU to ban plastic straws and cotton buds in effort to cut pollution.”

Spotlight: 'Plastic is more dangerous in the oceans than on land’

Malcolm Doyle is as mad as hell about plastic pollution on our beaches and oceans and, what's more, he's prepared to do something about it. Last year, the 28-year-old spent his annual leave cleaning up 60 beaches from Adelaide to Port Douglas. He estimates two-thirds of the litter was plastic, especially flimsy takeaway bags, beverage bottles and coloured bottle tops that some sea birds mistake as food. "I never felt so positive from the community support and disheartened by the level of waste at the same time," he recalls.

Malcolm Doyle.

Recent headlines warning that our oceans will have more plastic than fish by 2050 may seem incredible, but in reality it may be worse, observes Doyle. The throwaway society has gone global, with plastic production predicted to double in the next 20 years, according to Science magazine. The Plastic Vortex, the swirling mass of garbage bobbing in the north Pacific Ocean, is already twice the size of Texas, according to Greenpeace. Now scientists, who have got better at detecting chemicals in our bodies, are finding that even tiny quantities of plastic toxins can have potentially serious impacts on human health.

Read The Sydney Morning Herald story by Greg Callaghan - “Spotlight: 'Plastic is more dangerous in the oceans than on land’.”