single—use plastics such as plates and cutlery, as well as polystyrene cups, could all be banned in england under new plans being considered by the government. it is estimated that only 10% of such items are recycled. according to estimates, in england alone, we get through 1.1 billion single—use plates every year. in addition to that 4.25 billion single—use pieces of cutlery, the vast majority of which are plastic, are also used. disposable coffee cups have been a long—standing problem — the uk throws away 2.5 billion of those every year. professor rashid gatrad is a member of the royal college of paediatricians, and founded the campaign group, world against single use plastics. he explained the scale of the problem. obviously everything starts at home, so once you start recycling the recyclables, and ifeel the government should be stricter with the corporates to make sure that they accurately label what is recyclable and what isn't, and also there should be