Andy Burnham is considering banning sachets of ketchup, mayonnaise and vinegar from cafes and restaurants as part of a push to align the UK with European Union rules.
The EU has outlawed single-use plastic packaging for condiments in the catering sector on environmental grounds.
Campaigners calling for the UK to do the same say that 855bn sachets are used every year globally and many are thrown away without even being opened.
The packets are being prohibited in one part of the UK, under post-Brexit arrangements that require Northern Ireland to follow some EU rules.
In response to a written question in parliament from Tory shadow cabinet office minister Mike Wood, Defra minister Emma Hardy said: “The EU's ban on the sale or provision of single-serving sachets or containers of ketchup, mayonnaise, sugar, salt, oil and vinegar will apply in Northern Ireland under the Windsor framework but will not apply in the rest of the UK under EU-reset. A consultation regarding UK alignment is being planned.”
In 2020 estimates suggested there were more than 150 million tonnes of plastic waste polluting the world’s oceans and every year around a million birds and over 100,000 sea mammals die from eating and getting tangled in plastic waste.
News of the consultation came as it emerged that Mr Burnham will end one of the most damaging consequences of Brexit by agreeing to align with EU standards on food and drink in a bid to end border checks.
It will mean that UK exports to the EU of fresh sausages, burgers, shellfish from domestic waters and seed potatoes can resume, according to the BBC.
The deal, reportedly set to be signed at the end of this month, will also allow passports for UK pets taken into the EU to resume for the first time since the UK left the bloc.
But Mr Burnham appeared to backtrack on his hopes to bring back free movement of people instead saying it would be part of “an honest” discussion on Britain’s relationship with the EU as he considers future options.
In an interview with ITV airing on Tuesday, the Labour leader said: “I have not proposed freedom of movement coming back.
“I do believe that we should have an honest discussion with people about how immigration has changed since the Brexit vote because the shorter-term migration of people coming from Europe and then going back has been replaced with long-term settlement in bigger numbers, and that was the Boriswave.”
