Cutting Plastic 'Cutlery'?

Each year, England gets through more than 1 billion single-use plastic plates. The country also uses more than 4 billion pieces of plastic cutlery per annum. Only 10% of this material (often supplied by food 'take-aways'), is recycled. After 'consultation', the UK's Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has pledged to ban these single-use plastics in England (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/08/single-use-plastic-cutlery-and-plates-to-be-banned-in-england). This is an attempt to reduce a ubiquitous source of plastic pollution of the environment. Similar bans have already been agreed in Scotland and Wales (but I don't see much sign of a reduction in the latter- see today's image). The English ban will not, however, include purchases made in 'shops'. No precise date has been given for its likely introduction. 'Pledges', with loopholes and lacking detail on dates and/or penalties, are vague in the extreme. The government's Minister for the Environment is trying to 'sell' the scheme, by pointing out that it would take 200 years for a plastic fork to decompose. More than a decade ago, the French were informed it took 400 years for dropped chewing gum to disappear. I wonder how successful such information really is in transforming behaviour?