Thursday 15 February 2018
The BBC has announced it will ban all single-use plastics from its operations by 2020.
It comes in the wake of its landmark Blue Planet II series, which highlighted plastic pollution in the ocean.
Plastic cups and cutlery are to be scrapped by the end of this year, followed by plastic containers in canteens by 2019.
Visitors and staff at the BBC currently use around two million plastic cups every year.
The corporation said some of its kitchens had already started replacing plastic cups with glasses and a trial to recycle coffee cups is to be launched at its site in Salford.
Tony Hall, Director General of the BBC, said he was “shocked” by the plastic waste featured in the documentary last year.
He added: “Like millions of people watching Blue Planet II, I was shocked to see the avoidable waste and harm created by single-use plastic.
“We all need to do our bit to tackle this problem and I want the BBC to lead the way. Scrapping throwaway plastic cups and cutlery is the first step and with our plan, I hope we can have a BBC free of single-use plastic altogether.”