Wales will follow England and Scotland and ban the sales of personal care products containing plastic microbeads
Wales Micro Bead Ban
Wales will follow England and Scotland in banning the sale and production of products containing plastic microbeads following a vote by Assembly Members this week.
On Tuesday (19thJune) Welsh Government AMs voted in favour of the ban, which will apply to ‘rinse-off’ personal care products such as toothpaste and shower gels, from June 30.
The Minister for Environment, Hannah Blythyn, said: “Microbeads in rinse-off products are unnecessary and harmful to sea life. A ban will reduce pollutants from entering our seas and is an important step to safeguarding our marine environment.”
“This ban is part of a range of measures here in Wales to reduce waste, tackle plastic pollution and increase recycling. For example, our local authority targets for household recycling mean we recycle 75 per cent of plastic bottles collected from households, compared with 57 per cent across the whole of the UK.”
The Minister said the ban is one aspect of the country’s ‘Year of the Sea’ focus for 2018, which sees Wales taking action to tackle plastic pollution, including signing up to the UN Clean Seas pledge earlier this month.
Enforcement of the ban on the sale of products containing microbeads will be undertaken by Trading Standards in the relevant local authority.