The Environmental Protection (Plastic Straws, Cotton Buds and Stirrers) (England) Regulations 2020
| Year | 2020 |
2020 No. 971
Environmental Protection, England
The Environmental Protection (Plastic Straws, Cotton Buds and Stirrers) (England) Regulations 2020
Made 10th September 2020
Coming into force in accordance with regulation 1
The Secretary of State makes these Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by section 140(1)(b) and (c), (3)(c) and (d) and (9) of the Environmental Protection Act 19901(“the 1990 Act”) and section 62(2) of the Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Act 20082(“the 2008 Act”).
The Secretary of State—
(a) has published a notice in the London Gazette as required by section 140(6)(b) of the 1990 Act3and has considered the representations made in accordance with that notice;
(b) is satisfied in accordance with section 66 of the 2008 Act that local authorities (who are regulators for the purposes of these Regulations) will act in accordance with the principles referred to in section 5(2) of that Act in exercising a power conferred by these Regulations4;
(c) considers it appropriate to make these Regulations for the purpose of preventing the articles specified in them from causing pollution of the environment and harm to the health of animals.
In accordance with section 62(3) of the 2008 Act, a draft of these Regulations has been laid before, and approved by resolution of, each House of Parliament.
PART 1
Introduction
Citation, commencement and application
1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Environmental Protection (Plastic Straws, Cotton Buds and Stirrers) (England) Regulations 2020.
(2) These Regulations, except for regulation 4(3) and (4), come into force on the twenty-first day after the day on which they are made.
(3) Regulation 4(3) and (4) comes into force on 3rd July 2021.
(4) These Regulations extend to England and Wales and apply in relation to England only.
Interpretation
2. In these Regulations—
“catering establishment” has the meaning given by regulation 6(3);
“compliance notice” has the meaning given by paragraph 1(1)(b) of the Schedule;
“end user” means any person to whom a product is supplied, other than—
(a) for the purpose of supplying it, in the course of a business, to another person;
(b) for the purposes of a manufacturing process; or
(c) in the case of a single-use plastic straw, for the purposes of a catering establishment or an establishment of a kind referred to in regulation 9(1);
“enforcement undertaking” has the meaning given by paragraph 17 of the Schedule;
“health professional” means—
(a) a registered medical practitioner;
(b) a registered nurse or midwife;
(c) a registered dentist within the meaning of section 53 of the Dentists Act 19845;
(d) a registered pharmacist or a registered pharmacy technician within the meaning of article 3 of the Pharmacy Order 20106;
(e) a registered dietician, occupational therapist or physiotherapist7;
“local authority” means—
(a) in relation to the City of London, the Common Council for the City of London;
(b) in relation to an area in the rest of London, the London borough council for that area;
(c) in relation to the Isles of Scilly, the Council of the Isles of Scilly;
(d) in relation to an area in the rest of England, the county council for that area or, where there is no county council for that area, the district council for that area;
“medical purposes” means the purposes of preventative medicine, medical diagnosis, medical research and the provision of medical care and treatment;
“plastic” means a material consisting of polymer as defined in Article 3(5) of Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH)8, to which additives or other substances may have been added, and which can function as a main structural component of final products, with the exception of natural polymers that have not been chemically modified;
“plastic drink stirrer” means an implement made partly or wholly of plastic designed and intended for stirring drinks;
“regulator” means a local authority;
“relevant device” means, subject to regulation 3, a device within the meaning given in regulation 68(4) of the Medical Devices Regulations 20029, to which Part 8 of those Regulations applies;
“single-use plastic stemmed cotton bud” means an item that consists of a rod made wholly or partly of plastic with cotton wrapped around one or both ends and that is not designed or intended to be re-used;
“single-use plastic straw” means a straw that is made wholly or partly from plastic and that is not designed or intended to be re-used;
“stop notice” has the meaning given by paragraph 9(2) of the Schedule;
“supply” means supply, whether by way of sale or not;
“third party undertaking” has the meaning given by paragraph 3(1) of the Schedule;
“variable monetary penalty” has the meaning given by paragraph 1(1)(a) of the Schedule.
Relevant devices: transitional provision
3.—(1) Before regulation 68 of the Medical Devices Regulations 2002 (“the 2002 Regulations”) comes into force10, “relevant device” means a medical device within the meaning given in regulation 2 of the 2002 Regulations to which Part 2 or Part 3 of those Regulations applies, and the definition of “relevant device” in regulation 2 does not apply.
(2) On and after the coming into force of regulation 68 of the 2002 Regulations and before 26th May 2025, “relevant device” means—
(a)
(a) a relevant device as defined in regulation 2; or
(b)
(b) a medical device within the meaning given in regulation 2 of the 2002 Regulations to which Part 2 or Part 3 of those Regulations applies.
PART 2
Single-use plastic straws
Offence: supply of single-use plastic straws to an end user
4.—(1) A person who, in the course of a business, supplies or offers to supply to an end user a single-use plastic straw, other than an attached plastic straw, is guilty of an offence.
(2) Paragraph (1) is subject to the exemptions in regulations 5 to 9, and to regulation 15.
(3) A person who, in the course of a business, supplies or offers to supply to an end user a drink product with an attached plastic straw is guilty of an offence.
(4) Paragraph (3) is subject to the exemption in regulation 7.
(5) A person guilty of an offence under paragraph (1) or (3) is liable on summary conviction to a fine.
(6) In this regulation, “attached plastic straw” means a single-use plastic straw which is attached to the packaging of a drink product and is intended to be used to consume that drink.
Exemption: retail pharmacy businesses
5.—(1) Regulation 4(1) does not apply to the supply of a single-use plastic straw by a retail pharmacy business in the cases in paragraph (2), provided that the conditions in paragraph (3) are complied with.
(2) The cases referred to in paragraph (1) are where the single-use plastic straw is supplied to an end user—
(a)
(a) at a registered pharmacy; or
(b)
(b) by means of online or other distance selling arrangements.
(3) The conditions are that single-use plastic straws to which regulation 4(1) applies—
(a)
(a) must not be advertised to customers by the retail pharmacy business; and
(b)
(b) if supplied at a registered pharmacy—
(i) must not be kept in a place where they are visible to customers, or where customers can access them; and
(ii) must not be offered or provided to a customer unless the customer has requested them.
(4) The condition in paragraph (3)(a) does not prohibit the display of single-use plastic straws for sale on a website or application through which the retail pharmacy business sells products online.
(5) In this regulation, “registered pharmacy” and “retail pharmacy business” have the meanings given in regulation 8(1) of the Human Medicines Regulations 201211.
Exemption: catering establishments
6.—(1) Regulation 4(1) does not apply to the supply by a catering establishment of a single-use plastic straw together with food or drink which is supplied for immediate consumption, provided that the conditions in paragraph (2) are complied with.
(2) The conditions are that single-use plastic straws to which regulation 4(1) applies—
(a)
(a) must not be kept in a place where they are visible to customers, or where customers can access them; and
(b)
(b) must not be offered or provided to a customer unless the customer has requested them.
(3) In this regulation, “catering establishment” means a restaurant, canteen, club, public house or similar establishment (including a vehicle or a fixed or mobile stall) which supplies food or drink that is ready for consumption without further preparation.
Exemption: relevant devices and medical purposes
7. Regulation 4(1) and (3) does not apply to the supply of a product—
(a) that is a relevant device;
(b) for use for medical purposes by or under the direction of a health professional; or
(c) by a health professional for medical purposes.
Exemption: packaging
8.—(1) Regulation 4(1) does not apply to the supply of a single-use plastic straw that is packaging.
(2) In this regulation, “packaging” has the same meaning as in regulation 3 of the Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations 201512.
Exemption: other establishments
9.—(1) Regulation 4(1) does not apply to the supply of a single-use plastic straw in—
(a)
(a) a care home;
(b)
(b) premises used for early years provision;
(c)
(c) a school; or
(d)
(d) a prison or other place of detention.
(2) In this regulation—
“care home” has the same meaning as in section 3 of the Care Standards Act 200013;
“early years provision” has the same meaning as in section 96(2) of the Childcare Act 200614;
“prison” has the same meaning as in section 92(1) of...
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