Since 2011, measures have been brought into force across all parts of the UK to tackle the issue of single-use plastic waste, including plastic bags, cutlery, straws and food and drink containers. Scotland, England and Wales have implemented bans on certain products while Northern Ireland has a plan for future restrictions. Restrictions introduced to date have been introduced at different times but have been similar in substance.
The Office for the Internal Market (OIM), which is part of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), has a role to assist the four governments across the UK by providing expert advice and analysis to support the effective operation of the UK internal market.
As such, it is well placed to provide independent and evidence-based advice on the economic impacts of measures to reduce the use of single-use plastics across the nations, which can help with the development of future policy by governments.
The review builds on the work of the OIM’s latest annual report which found that supermarkets have tended to adopt a ‘UK wide’ approach when using single-use plastic items like cutlery, plates and bowls – meaning they adapt to the regulatory environment by using items which meet trading rules in all parts of the UK or at least all parts they trade in, rather than using different products in each nation.
