The first stage of a ban on single-use plastic items in Wales is imminent.
In December 2022, Wales made history by becoming the first part of the UK to legislate against certain types of single-use plastics, when the Senedd approved legislation to ban selling unnecessary, disposable products to consumers.
The ban will come into effect in two stages and, once in force, it will be against the law to sell or to give for free any of the banned products to a consumer in Wales unless exemptions apply.
In the first stage, which starts on 30 October, the following items will be banned from being sold across the country:
• Single-use plastic plates
• Single-use plastic cutlery
• Single-use plastic drinks stirrers  
• Cups made of expanded or foamed extruded polystyrene.
• Takeaway food containers made of expanded or foamed extruded polystyrene
• Single-use plastic balloon sticks
• Single-use plastic-stemmed Cotton buds
• Single-use plastic drinking straws
The Welsh Government intends to introduce stage two by Spring 2026, when the following items will be included in the ban:
• Carrier bags
• Polystyrene lids for cups and takeaway food containers
• Oxo-degradable plastic products
The types of organisations that can commit an offence by supplying a prohibited single-use plastic product are:
• businesses
• companies
• government bodies
• partnership;
• sole traders
• public service providers
• charities, clubs, syndicates and voluntary organisations
More details can be found on this official web page for The Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic Products) (Wales) Act.
