The Government has set out the next steps for its proposed ban on the use of plastic microbeads in cosmetics and personal care products with the publication of a summary of responses to a consultation earlier in the year on the issue.

The law has now been drafted which the Government intends to use to bring the ban into force in England by the end of the year. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will introduce separate laws according to their own timescales to make sure that the ban will apply across the whole of the UK.

The proposed ban is designed to prevent the use of plastic microbeads in products designed to be washed down the drain, in order to protect the marine environment.

Publishing the summary of responses to its consultation which concluded in February, the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs said:

“There is clear, robust evidence that microbeads are used in rinse-off cosmetics and personal care products, that they reach the marine environment and that they cause harm there. This was the basis for our proposals.”

Defra received a total of 431 responses to its consultation, the majority of which were from individuals, but also included responses from a wide range of organisations including water companies, local authorities, cosmetics companies and associations, environmental charities and campaign groups.

The majority of the respondents have welcomed the proposed ban - some suggested that the scope should be increased to cover additional products, with others suggesting that it should be restricted to cover fewer products.

Sewage and wastewater systems among other potential sources of plastics pollution

Many respondents recognised the need to take further action to address additional sources of marine litter. Other potential sources of marine microplastic pollution suggested by respondents included pre-production plastic pellets (nurdles), microfibres released from washing machines, tyre particles, plastic beads used as aerators at wastewater treatment plants and the spreading of wastewater sludge as agricultural fertiliser.

The Government said it is working with the water industry to reduce the amount of litter entering the environment from sewage and waste water systems, in line with European directives on water quality and waste water treatment.

Sewage treatment is not normally designed to specifically remove microplastics – however, the normal level of treatment in the UK will remove a proportion of microplastics from final effluent. Larger plastic items are also removed during treatment and this reduces a potential source of secondary microplastic.

Several respondents asked for the ban to be extended to cover all products that result in microbeads being washed down the drain and therefore that might enter the marine environment, including “leave-on” makeup, and sunscreen.

Reformulation of products  lengthy & expensive – with significant cost implications

However, other respondents stated that the ban should not be extended to leave-on cosmetics because they said there was a lack of evidence of environmental impact and that reformulating the products would be difficult. Responses from the cosmetics industry indicated that the reformulation of thousands of products would be required. They stated that some companies may require up to 90% of their product portfolios to be reformulated.

They also noted that:

“Reformulation is lengthy and expensive and as such would have significant cost implications for the whole industry, particularly small companies, could damage global competitiveness, restrict consumer choice and could mean that large quantities of products would have to go to landfill if insufficient time were given for reformulation.”

Not appropriate to extend ban to other products at this stage

However, the Government said that based on the evidence presented in response to the consultation there is currently insufficient evidence as to which products contain microplastics and how they are disposed of. The process of reformulating and determining suitable alternatives is also less well advanced.

“We therefore do not consider that it is appropriate to extend the ban to other products at this stage.”

There are currently no agreed standards for biodegradability in the marine environment. Although certain items are marketed as compostable or biodegradable, these frequently require specific conditions such as the application of heat or UV light.

The conditions deep in the ocean are considerably different. Many plastic items break into smaller pieces in the marine environment but do not break down completely into harmless constituents. No materials have been proven to adequately biodegrade in the open marine environment.

The main features of the revised proposals are:

• the timescale for the ban in England becoming effective is unchanged: the ban on manufacture to start 1st Jan 2018 and the ban on sale 30th June 2018;
• the development of precise definitions of “microbead”, “plastic” and “rinse-off personal care product” to clearly define the scope of the ban;
• retaining the scope of rinse-off products, but additionally working with the Hazardous Substances Advisory Committee (HSAC) to assess the case for addressing further categories of products.
• Trading Standards identified as a suitable regulator to manage compliance and enforcement in England.
• enforcement in England will be carried out through a range of sanctions including variable monetary penalties, compliance notices, stop notices and enforcement undertakings; and
• the Devolved Administrations are considering appropriate enforcement mechanisms, regulators and timescales according to devolution settlements.

Deadline to submit comments to the Department for Food Environment and Rural Affairs on the draft legislation for England is 15 October 2017. Written comments should be sent to Marine Litter Policy Team, Defra, 8B Millbank, 17 Smith Square, London SW1P 3JR or by email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Click here to download the draft legislation: The Environmental Protection (Microbeads) (England) Regulations 2017