Boris Johnson orders Foreign Office to bin plastics

The Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) is to eliminate single-use plastics from its UK operations by the end of 2018. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has also pledged to do the […]

The Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) is to eliminate single-use plastics from its UK operations by the end of 2018.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has also pledged to do the same from its global operations by 2020, making it the first UK Government department to announce such a ban.

The FCO, in recent weeks, has already removed all plastic cups, crockery, cutlery, straws and single-use condiment sachets from its London staff canteen and is providing reusable or biodegradable alternatives.

It also plans to increase its ‘latte levy’ from 10p to 50p to encourage staff to reuse their own mugs instead of disposable ones.

The FCO is considering replacing existing vehicles with greener ones, implementing waste to energy projects and a global automated energy monitoring and reduction programme.

The Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) recently accused the government of “dragging its feet” on introducing a deposit scheme for plastic bottles.

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