The composition of the oceanic "garbage patches" is about 50% discarded fishing gear [1].
The stuff you tend to find washed up on beaches contains a large proportion of land-originated bits and bobs such as lighters, toothbrushes, and beach sandals, but also a large fraction of already-partly-decomposed plastic fragments, impossible to ascribe to any particular source [2].
Personally I'm not in favour of an outright ban (give me back my 100 W lightbulbs and 2000 W vacuum cleaners!) but EU-wide taxation could surely disincentivize plastic cutlery with respect to bamboo or other decomposable.
[1] https://ocean.si.edu/conservation/pollution/marine-plastics
[2] "Composition and potential origin of marine debris stranded in the Western Indian Ocean on remote Alphonse Island, Seychelles" Duhec et al. Marine Pollution Bulletin 96 (2015) 76–86
The stuff you tend to find washed up on beaches contains a large proportion of land-originated bits and bobs such as lighters, toothbrushes, and beach sandals, but also a large fraction of already-partly-decomposed plastic fragments, impossible to ascribe to any particular source [2].
Personally I'm not in favour of an outright ban (give me back my 100 W lightbulbs and 2000 W vacuum cleaners!) but EU-wide taxation could surely disincentivize plastic cutlery with respect to bamboo or other decomposable.
[1] https://ocean.si.edu/conservation/pollution/marine-plastics [2] "Composition and potential origin of marine debris stranded in the Western Indian Ocean on remote Alphonse Island, Seychelles" Duhec et al. Marine Pollution Bulletin 96 (2015) 76–86