Single-use items like plastic cutlery, plates and trays will be banned in England, the government has confirmed.

It is not clear when the ban will come into effect, but it follows similar moves already made by Scotland and Wales.

Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey said the move would help protect the environment for future generations.

Campaigners welcomed the ban, but called for a wider-ranging plastic reduction strategy.

Government figures suggest that 1.1 billion single-use plates and more than four billion pieces of plastic cutlery are used in England every year.

Plastic waste often does not decompose and can last in landfill for many years.

Although it might be useful in terms of food hygiene, it can also end up as litter, in turn polluting soil and water.

The confirmation of the move from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) follows a long consultation, which will be published on Saturday 14 January.

More than 6,000 people all over the UK have, without fuss or fanfare, quietly set up similar collections in their own homes, workplaces, schools or community centres.

They spread the word locally, and accept waste from friends, families, colleagues and neighbours. Some buy bins and leave them at the top of their drives for strangers to chuck in their plastic. Others persuade local shops, supermarkets and even pubs to have drop-off containers there. One I speak to, Olivia McGuinnes in Derbyshire, has hundreds of crisp packets and baby food pouches currently stored in her utility room. “My husband’s not mad about it,” she admits.

Then, when these collections reach a certain quantity, they are sent off to a private company, called TerraCycle, to be recycled.

In return, the volunteers receive two things.

The first is a small donation to a charity of their choice. In George’s case, he’s earned £17,000 for a variety of good causes over six years.

The second is the knowledge they are doing their bit to save the planet from what David Attenborough – who knows a thing or two about this stuff – has called “the untold harm” of plastic waste. “I’m quite fond of the world,” muses George. “So it’s worth saving.”

Environmentalists say large and small drinks containers alike should carry a catch-all deposit of more than 15p.

But retailers say small “on-the-go” bottles cause most litter, so large bottles should not be subject to a deposit as they are mostly recycled at home.

Ministers are still considering whether to exempt bigger plastic containers from the plans. 

How do bottle recycling schemes work?

The UK proposal, part of the Resources and Waste Strategy, is likely to copy one of the schemes adopted in other countries.

In Norway for instance, the shopper pays a deposit on every bottle – the equivalent of 10p to 25p depending on size.

The consumer drinks the product, then posts the empty bottle into a machine which produces a coupon to return the deposit.

This has led to recycling rates of 97% – whereas in the UK just over half of plastic bottles are recycled.

A “world first” plastic-free supermarket aisle is being unveiled in Amsterdam, prompting calls from campaigners for retailers to roll them out in the UK.

More than 700 products will be available without plastic packaging in the aisle which is being set up in a new metro-sized pilot store of supermarket chain Ekoplaza in the Dutch city, including meat, rice, sauces, dairy, chocolate, cereals, fruit and vegetables.

Environmental campaign group A Plastic Planet, which came up with the idea, said the introduction of the world’s first plastic-free aisle was a “landmark moment” for the global fight against plastic pollution.