Disposable Plastic Cups and Marine Litter: A Material Science Perspective

This article discusses the issue of disposable plastic cups and their impact on marine litter from a material science perspective. It analyzes reports from the UK and the European Commission and proposes solutions to reduce the use of single-use plastic cups.

Running head: MATERIAL SCIENCE
Material Science
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1MATERIAL SCIENCE
Disposable Packaging: Coffee Cups. (2018). [ebook] Publications.parliament.uk.
Available at:
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmenvaud/657/657.pdf
[Accessed 29 Oct. 2018].
House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee in its Second Report of Session
2017-2019, addressing the issue of disposable plastic cups in UK published this report. It has
identified the issue that around 2.5 billion plastic cups are being used in UK every year and
thrown away without recycling. Approximately, 500,000 plastic cups are littered on a regular
basis, causing a hideous damage to our environment, which is not recoverable. An inquiry
was started in the year 2016 and was ended in 2017 with a conclusion that recycling the
plastic cups on-the-go has certain difficulties. This report has analysed specifically the issues
of plastic cups and set out some recommendations. Due to the plastic lining in the cups, they
are being disposed without recycling. Additionally, the plastic linings from the cups cannot
be removed by the recycling facilities. Government has made some announcements after this
inquiry that disposed cups will be recycled into Selfridge’s shopping bags. Government
recommended that that the littering of plastic cups should be banned. Needed focus has been
given on litter collection and waste management in the country. The Government has set up a
sustainable development goal and committed to encourage the large companies to adopt a
sustainable practice to recycle plastic cups. UK has welcomed the approaches of voluntary
commitment to in-store recycling systems adopted by Starbucks and Costa Coffee. The
Government has set up a target to recycle all the single-use coffee cups by 2023 and if the
target is not achieved, it would ban disposable plastic cups.

2MATERIAL SCIENCE
Single-use plastics and fishing gear: reducing marine litter from plastics. (2018). [ebook]
Europarl.europa.eu. Available at:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/legislative-train/theme-new-boost-for-jobs-growth-and-
investment/file-single-use-plastics-and-fishing-gear-reducing-marine-litter-from-plastics
[Accessed 30 Oct. 2018].
The European Commission published the report stating that around ¾ part of the
marine litter in the seas is plastic. Single-use plastics are accountable for more than half of
this litter. Plastic cups are disposed in the ocean avoiding the recycling issues. This is a threat
to the bio-diversity and impacts the environment. It has affected the economy of Europe
especially affecting the fisheries and the tourism sector. The European Commission in 2018,
made some proposal in relation to this issue. It has proposed to discover measures to reduce
the consumption of beverages in the plastic cups by raising awareness about this issue. The
Commission has proposed to extend the responsibility of the producer of plastic cups. It has
also proposed to raise awareness of the population about the impacts of using single-use
plastic cups. The Commission has also put forward the idea of imposing strict regulation on
the labelling requirements in single-use plastic products. It was of the opinion that market
restrictions should also be imposed on plastic cups, reducing the availability. It has been
thoroughly discussed by the Environment Council. The proposals are being considered by the
working party level at the Council.

3MATERIAL SCIENCE
References
Disposable Packaging: Coffee Cups. (2018). [ebook] Publications.parliament.uk. Available
at: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmenvaud/657/657.pdf
[Accessed 29 Oct. 2018].
Single-use plastics and fishing gear: reducing marine litter from plastics. (2018). [ebook]
Europarl.europa.eu. Available at: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/legislative-train/theme-new-
boost-for-jobs-growth-and-investment/file-single-use-plastics-and-fishing-gear-reducing-
marine-litter-from-plastics [Accessed 30 Oct. 2018].