His plans for all plastic to include at least 30 percent recycled content in future is in line with the EU’s plans to eventually abolish single-use plastics.

Some of the biggest culprits of using single-use plastics however do not capture the public’s attention or those of politicians. Manufacturing uses a vast amount of various types of plastics many of which go straight into landfill once finished with. From window and signage frames to plastic lettering and vehicle wrap films, much of it is either difficult and expensive to recycle or is impossible to be recycled. The items that have captured the imagination of the public since David Attenborough’s films highlighted the problem were those everyday things like plastic bags and bottles.

Fred Roeder of London-based lobby group Consumer Choice says: “By banning single-use plastics such as Styrofoam cups, straws, stirrers and cotton buds in Europe we won't solve the actual problem, which is the terrible pollution of our oceans with plastic litter. While the EU accounts for over 20 percent of the world's economic output, it causes merely one percent of marine plastic pollution.

Therefore, rather than banning viable technologies in Europe we should rather focus on increasing recycling rates, enforce existing anti-littering laws in Europe, and push the main polluters of the oceans such as China, India, Indonesia, and Brazil to comply with environmental standards and implement effective anti-littering laws."

However, this view is not held by European Governments with the British pushing ahead with plans announced in the Budget. Downing Street says: “Alongside already planned reforms to the Packaging Producer Responsibility System, this will encourage businesses to ensure that far more packaging can be recycled and to use more recycled plastic in their packaging. The government will consult on both reforms shortly.

“Future revenues from the packaging tax and Packaging Producer Responsibility reforms will enable investment to address single-use plastics, waste and litter. This budget also announces £20 million to tackle plastics and boost recycling: £10 million more for plastics research and development and £10 million to pioneer innovative approaches to boosting recycling and reducing litter.”

In the Government’s policy paper, A Green Future: Our 25 Year Plan To Improve The Environment, published in January of this year, it pledged to eliminate all plastic and assorted waste by 2050 and plastic waste by 2042. The very lengthy document is full of good intentions but with few practical details as to how the elimination of plastic waste will happen. There are several firms that collect and recycle a variety of plastics but much of what the sign industry produces ends up in skips destined for landfill sites. The reason is because these materials have been treated, painted or glued to other materials which can render them unsuitable for recycling.

Polythene can be recycled with several schemes operating that requires firms to bundle bales of the stuff for collection. Perspex and vinyl can be recycled as can clean white polystyrene but again the problem can be contamination from the use of coatings. The British Plastics Federation have a number of links on their website which give details of which and where plastics can be recycled.

Is it time to ban single-use plastic? Email your thoughts to harry@linkpublishing.co.uk or call me on Tel: 0117 9805 040 – or follow me on Twitter and join in the debate.