The UK’s two largest supermarket chains have committed to end the sale of cotton buds with plastic stems, which are the most common litter from toilets flushed on to the country’s beaches. Both Tesco and Sainsbury’s will replace the plastic stick with paper by the end of 2017 in their own-brand products. Other major companies, including Morrisons, Asda and Boots, are currently considering a plastic ban, while Waitrose, the Co-operative and Johnson & Johnson have already committed to paper stems. Natalie Fee, founder of the City to Sea campaign to cut plastic pollution, said: “We’re delighted with the announcements to ‘switch the stick’ from plastic to paper stem buds. “We found over 23 [plastic] cotton bud sticks on every 100m of beaches we cleaned in September.

Source: The Guardian November 30, 2016 12:16 UTC