Why Whitehall should ban plastic pint cups

Globally 500 billion plastic cups are used each year. If lined up end-to-end these cups would span 50 million kilometres – or more than 130 trips from the Earth to the moon.

In the UK more than 7,000 outdoor events are hosted and attended by around 85 million people each year, and the majority of which will purchase a beverage in a plastic pint cup. A pint routinely costs £7 and it is an experiential tragedy for what is now a luxury item to be consumed out of a cheap plastic cup that often ruins the taste. It is no longer acceptable. Due to the unprecedented rising cost, consumers deserve a solution which does not taint their pint or our planet.

When asked, three-quarters of Brits believe plastic pint cups ‘cheapen the experience' of enjoying their favourite beer. And even more significantly, 89% want plastic pint cups banned to protect the environment. In theory, the government's single-use plastic ban is designed to tackle pollution and has taken several steps in the right direction to eradicate the menace of single-use plastic, but pint cups are a glaring omission. The time is now to call for an all-out ban as the environmental impact these plastic cups have on the planet, useful for moments, existing for centuries, is incalculable.

As shown repeatedly throughout history, innovation can happen when left with no other solution. Somehow we are managing to drink cocktails without plastic straws. Banning the current cheap plastic option so that we all reach for the many other safer, plastic-free alternatives that are already available would go a long way to reduce the wreckage left behind after big nights out, music festivals and sporting events.

This proposed and much-needed legislation would cause no impediment to business and instead benefits the environment and will elevate our social experiences greatly. If the UK government is to truly make a stand and position itself as a world leader on the eradication of plastic pollution, it is fundamental it acts now with legislation that will inspire the industry.

From UK festivals alone, it is estimated almost 70% of plastic pint cups will end up in landfill, incinerators or, most likely, the environment, where they will languish for centuries. Plastic cups are the sixth most commonly found plastic item in Britain's rivers, and the eighth on the nation's beaches. With plastic recycling rates so low in the UK, it is no longer acceptable for us to allow such valueless items to exist.

The beer industry has always been one of the most sustainable – reusable kegs, pint glasses washed thousands of times – so how have we allowed this great industry to slide into a plastic single-use cul-de-sac? We are calling time on plastic. It's time Britain poured itself a plastic-free pint.

Sian Sutherland is co-founder A Plastic Planet

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