Almost half of all businesses in Ireland still don’t know that single-use plastics are banned.

That’s the finding from new research from MyWaste.ie which shows 45% of businesses are still offering at least one of the banned items for people to use.

EU restrictions on single-use plastics first came into effect in Ireland in 2021.

Some 29% of people surveyed believe takeaways and restaurants are responsible for most of single-use plastics, followed by party shops and supermarkets.

Single use plastics in a bin. Photo: Gerald Matzka/dpa-Zentralbild/ZB

Will Mitchell from MyWaste.ie said it’s not all bad news.

“From our research, we found 84% of businesses already stock more sustainable alternatives and 84% of consumers are making a conscious step to avoid single-use plastics,” he said.

“This campaign is all about closing out the remaining instances of plastics that are coming into the country.”

Single-use plastics awareness

Mr Mitchell said awareness of single-use plastics is still low.

“On the consumer side, there is a very low awareness of what a single-use plastic is,” he said.

“That’s what our campaign is about, we want to increase awareness of what the items are.

“We also want people to avoid them on the consumer side and the business side to stop people buying them in.”

Items such as plastic straws, stirrers, cutlery and cotton bud sticks are still being offered to consumers, with 32% of people saying they've seen them for sale or in use in the last month.

Main image: A hand holding plastic straws at a beach. Image: Daisy-Daisy / Alamy Stock Photo