Tesco will have phased out microbeads from all its own brand cosmetics and household cleaning products within a month, it was announced on Thursday. Tesco admitted it had been “behind the game” on issues affecting the oceans and marine life before. Microbeads are pieces of plastic less than 0.5mm in diameter and have been commonly used in health and beauty products to provide an exfoliating effect. Kerry McCarthy, Labour MP and a member of the environment audit committee, said: “We’ve won the argument for a ban on microbeads in cosmetics and personal products. But he added that with products beyond cosmetics, it was often hard to discern microbeads using infrared analysis and other techniques because their make-up was so much more complex.

Source: The Guardian November 24, 2016 12:51 UTC