--- title: The U.K. Wants to Ban All Plastic Straws and Drink Stirrers description: At a Commonwealth meeting, the U.K. proposed a ban on plastic straws, drink stirrers and cotton swabs in an effort to save the oceans. canonical: https://time.com/5246692/uk-plastic-straws-ban/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-04-19T15:58:54.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:52:18.323Z og:title: The U.K. Wants to Ban All Plastic Straws and Drink Stirrers og:description: At a Commonwealth meeting, the U.K. proposed to cut back on single-use plastics og:url: https://time.com/5246692/uk-plastic-straws-ban/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The U.K. Wants to Ban All Plastic Straws and Drink Stirrers twitter:description: At a Commonwealth meeting, the U.K. proposed to cut back on single-use plastics twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # The U.K. Might Want to Ban All Plastic Straws and Drink Stirrers So Savor Those Sips Today > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=973747c0-123f-4fe4-9c1d-0f6a728a76cb&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1)  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Apr 19, 2018 3:58 PM UTC  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Apr 19, 2018 3:58 PM UTC Don’t get too attached to your straw. At least, if you’re a U.K. citizen it’s possible you’ll be going without drink straws, stirrers, and cotton buds, if a newly-proposed ban goes through. During the meeting of the [Commonwealth Heads of Government](http://time.com/5244616/prince-harry-meghan-markle-commonwealth-forum/) on Thursday in London, a proposal was announced to phase out [single-use plastics](http://time.com/3707112/plastic-in-the-ocean/), which cannot be recycled and contribute to ocean deterioration, damaging ecosystems and wildlife. In the U.K., about 23 million straws are used and discarded daily. In the U.S., it’s [500 million.](https://www.nps.gov/commercialservices/greenline%5Fstraw%5Ffree.htm) “Plastic waste is one of the greatest environmental challenges facing the world, which is why protecting the marine environment is central to our agenda at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting,” Prime Minister [Theresa May said](https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/19/u-k-government-proposes-ban-on-plastic-straws-cotton-buds-and-drink-stirrers.html). The U.K. has already moved forward on charging for single-use plastic bags and [banning microbeads](https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/09/health/microbead-ban-uk-intl/index.html) in products; the straws, stirrers and swabs would add to this incremental work. According to a [U.K. government report](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment%5Fdata/file/634433/Future%5Fof%5Fthe%5Fsea%5F-%5Fplastic%5Fpollution%5Ffinal.pdf) on the future of the seas, nearly 70% of the litter in the oceans comes from plastics. The U.N. environment chief [has called](https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/un-ocean-plastic-waste-resolution-us-china-india-reject-pollution-sea-united-nations-environment-a8095541.html) the current status of plastic pollution an “ocean Armageddon.” But a recent U.N. resolution to work towards specific plastic waste goals [was rejected](https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/un-ocean-plastic-waste-resolution-us-china-india-reject-pollution-sea-united-nations-environment-a8095541.html) by the U.S. and China. In lieu of global binding action, countries like the U.K. and individual establishments around the world are choosing to make small steps towards eliminating plastics. The cause has been supported by the voices of celebrities like Adrian Grenier, who launched a campaign to encourage drinkers to [“stop sucking”](http://time.com/4938078/adrien-grenier-plastic-straws-pollution/) — which is something you can do whether or not there’s a ban in place. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5246692/uk-plastic-straws-ban/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5246692/uk-plastic-straws-ban/"},"headline":"The U.K. Might Want to Ban All Plastic Straws and Drink Stirrers So Savor Those Sips Today","datePublished":"2018-04-19T15:58:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:52:18.323Z","description":"\"Plastic waste is one of the greatest environmental challenges facing the world\"","url":"https://time.com/5246692/uk-plastic-straws-ban/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Environment","Bizarre"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5246692/uk-plastic-straws-ban/","name":"The U.K. Might Want to Ban All Plastic Straws and Drink Stirrers So Savor Those Sips Today"}}]}] ```