The UK's fight against plastic pollution is stepping up a gear – with the sale of single-use plastic straws, stirrers and cotton buds now illegal in England. 

The ban, which kicked in Thursday, was due to take effect in April but was put on hold because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Official estimates show that each year, people in England use 4.7 billion plastic straws, 316 million plastic stirrers and 1.8 billion plastic-stemmed cotton buds.

"Single-use plastics cause real devastation to the environment and this government is firmly committed to tackling this issue head on," said George Eustice, the UK's environment secretary.

Campaigners have welcomed the move but say more needs to be done.

City to Sea is an organization that fights plastic pollution. Its Refill app – which encourages people to reuse plastic bottles – has been downloaded more than 300,000 times worldwide.

Rebecca Burgess, CEO, said the UK government has been "slow to act."

"Whilst we obviously are delighted that the ban has come into force today, it is much delayed – years and years later, since businesses and campaigners took action on the issue," she said.

The UK is seeking to play a bigger role in climate change issues as it gears up to host the United Nations COP26 climate change conference in Glasgow next year.

Plastic pollution remains a challenge worldwide, with non-profit group Ocean Conservancy estimating 8 million tons of the material finds its way into our oceans each year.

Burgess said other European countries such as France were showing more ambition than the UK, with the French "circular economy bill saying it will ban all single-use plastic items from eat-in cafes and bars by 2024."

Ahead of the government's announcement, many British businesses have already decided to cut out single-use plastic products such as straws.

At UK cosmetics retailer Lush, 65 percent of its products have no packaging at all. It welcomed the move and said consumers are increasingly responding to measures that aim to save the planet.

A spokeswoman for the firm said using less plastic was "saving the business money" as well as reducing waste.