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UK bans microbeads in beauty products in bid to cut plastic in oceans

A UK-wide ban on manufacturers making products containing microbeads has come into force, in an attempt to cut down on plastics in our oceans.

The beads are used in hundreds of different cosmetic products such as face washes and shower gels.

It is estimated up to 51 trillion microbeads are currently in our oceans, while a single shower can flush away an estimated 100,000 microbeads.

They are then ingested by marine life and even end up entering our food chain.

Environment minister Therese Coffey told Sky News that the ban is part of a wider plan to cut down on plastic pollution.

She said: "We know that any plastic in the marine environment is not good and we know that animals consume this.

"They can be ingested directly into the fish and while we're still looking for extra evidence on the impact on human health, the point is that they don't need to be there and that's why we've taken the steps to have this ban."

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The ban has been welcomed by campaigners and cosmetic companies which already use natural alternatives to microbeads.

Tipper Lewis, from organic skincare company Neal's Yard, said: "We think the ban is absolutely fantastic.

"We use all sorts of things instead of plastic; rosehip seed powder which we can use for facial products, we've got pumice powder which we use in body products, it's a bit more exfoliating… and we've got ground rice powder which we use in our facial scrubs as well.

"The benefits of these is they're all biodegradable so they break down in the oceans, they don't get into the food chains and we don't end up eating them."

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Mary Creagh, who chairs the Environment Audit Committee, said the ban was a "good thing" but the Government must go "much further, much faster".

The MP said: "We need to look at how plastic has invaded every area of our life.

"Since the ban recommendation, my committee has also recommended that we should have a deposit return scheme, the latte levy because of the recyclability of coffee cups and we've also recommended that producers who make hard to recycle products are forced to pay more for them."

Although manufacturing microbead products has been banned, they will not be removed from shop shelves completely until July.