Plastic-stemmed cotton buds could be the next single use plastic to face a ban if proposals by the UK Government go through.
Eliminating single-use plastics is part of the Government’s 25-year Environment Plan and plastic-stemmed cotton buds are in the top 10 most common marine litter items that get washed up on the world’s beaches. Spas could be forced to stop using them after a consultation was launched to make their selling and distribution illegal.
Cotton buds are a commonly used in spas, but according to the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs’ impact assessment they “cause multiple environmental harms, particularly when they are discarded incorrectly. Even if disposed of correctly, plastic-stemmed cotton buds may end up in incineration, generating high carbon emissions… Intervention is required in order to shift the cotton bud market to plastic-free alternatives that already exist and decompose much quicker.”
National Beauty Federation (NBF) chief executive, Hilary Hall, says: “Beauty salons value the low cost and convenience of plastic-stemmed cotton buds for treatments such as eyelash tinting. We expect environmentally aware beauty salons will have already started switching to cotton buds with paper stems and if supplies are readily available from manufacturers and wholesalers and at an affordable price, this will happen more quickly, ahead of the proposed ban.”
