Scotland to become first UK country to ban plastic cotton buds
The Scottish government plans to ban the manufacture and sale of plastic-stemmed cotton buds in a move that will cut the country’s marine plastic pollution by half, according to campaigners.
Launching a public consultation on the proposed ban, Scotland’s environment secretary, Roseanna Cunningham, said: “Banning plastic cotton buds would be a clear sign of our ambition to address marine plastics and demonstrate further leadership on this issue.
“Despite various campaigns, people are continuing to flush litter down their toilets and this has to stop. Scotland’s sewerage infrastructure collects and treats some 945m litres of waste water each day. These systems are not designed to remove small plastic items such as plastic buds, which can kill marine animals and birds that swallow them.”
David Jones