The Cosmetics, Toiletry and Perfumery Association (CTPA) has lodged a formal objection with the European Commission in relation to the proposed UK ban on the use of microbeads in all rinse-off cosmetics, according to a report published by the Daily Mail.

The proposed ban would cover make-up as well as scrubs, which, says the CTPA, is too wide a scope. Instead, the industry body claims, the ban should be limited to exfoliating products.

“The ban announced by the UK government is world-leading in its ambition to successfully put a stop to this source of marine pollution. A weakening of the ban would prevent effective, robust legislation and would allow damaging microbeads to continue flowing into our seas,” said a coalition of Greenpeace UK, the Environmental Investigation Agency, Fauna and Flora International and the Marine Conservation Society in a joint statement.