England banned the manufacture of microbeads in rinse-off cosmetics from 9 January 2018 and their sale from 19 June 2018 (SI 2017/1312), and plastic straws, stirrers and cotton-bud sticks from 1 October 2020 (SI 2020/971, delayed from April by Covid). From 1 October 2023 the Environmental Protection (Plastic Plates etc. and Polystyrene Containers etc.) (England) Regulations 2023 (SI 2023/982) banned the supply of single-use plastic plates, bowls, trays, cutlery, balloon sticks and expanded and extruded polystyrene cups and food containers; that instrument was debated in Lords Grand Committee on 20 June 2023 and the Commons Fifth Delegated Legislation Committee on 4 July 2023 (Rebecca Pow).
The devolved nations have their own instruments: Scotland's Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic Products) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 took effect on 1 June 2022, and phase one of the Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic Products) (Wales) Act 2023 commenced on 30 October 2023, with phase two deferred beyond the current Senedd term.
Status as at September 2026: in force; the next UK-wide step is the plastic wet-wipes ban starting in Wales in December 2026. Dates verified against SI 2017/1312, SI 2020/971, SI 2023/982, SSI 2021/410 and WSI 2023/1149 (legislation.gov.uk) on 23 September 2026.