The European Commission is gearing up to reveal how it plans to tackle single-use plastics as part of the much vaunted Plastics Strategy. But an initial draft of the legislation has already received mix reviews.

Commission HQ is slated to present the single-use plastics proposal before the end of the month but a first draft of what is considered one of the jewels in the Plastics Strategy crown has already made its way out of the Berlaymont corridors.

The proposal names and shames a number of specific items that would be targeted by the legislation, including cotton-bud sticks, cutlery, plates, straws and beverage stirrers, as well as plastic sticks used for balloons.

Why the Commission's new plastic ban threatens to fall flat - Euractiv

But how can the plastic problem be solved in a democracy? Not through banning plastic cutlery and straws, scientists agree.

"No single approach can solve the problem alone," says Mehlhart. Similarly, Wilts explains, "I would like the Commission to regulate or ban fewer individual products."

Instead, according to Wilts, there is a need for a comprehensive strategy that sees the plastic problem as a whole and offers solutions at all levels.

For example, recycled plastic should be subsidised, while oil subsidies, needed to produce new plastic, should  be cut. Instead of disposable packaging, reusable packaging should be promoted and backed up with deposit systems, especially when it comes to beverage bottles.

In addition, the industry should get concrete goals for how much packaging it has to save. How these are achieved, the companies could then decide for themselves. In the UK, that has already happened, says Wilts - and it's very successful.