A ban on the manufacture of microbeads, those tiny bits of plastic used in some exfoliating cosmetic products, took effect Tuesday in the U.K. The move bars manufacturers from putting them in skin lotions, toothpastes or any other items intended to be rinsed off — and it presages a ban on the sale of such products that will take effect there in July.Politicians and activists hailed the move, which follows a similar U.S. law signed in 2015, as a welcome step toward diminishing the amount of plastic washed into the ocean."The world's seas and oceans are some of our most valuable natural assets and I am determined we act now to tackle the plastic that devastates our precious marine life," British Environment Minister Thérèse Coffey said in a statement Tuesday."Microbeads are entirely unnecessary when there are so many natural alternatives available, and I am delighted that from today cosmetics manufacturers will no longer be able to add this harmful plastic to their rinse-off products."At the same time, some cautioned that the celebrations ought to be tempered."Unfortunately the ban does not cover a long list of products, such as sun-cream, lipstick and paints — and of course microbeads are only one part of the huge plastic pollution problem we currently face," Friends of the Earth's Julian Kirby said, according to the BBC."It's piecemeal," Kirby added. "These are welcome small steps, but there's a much bigger picture of plastic pollution from paints, from textiles, to say nothing of bottles and packaging. To tackle it properly, you need a wholesale look at waste provision policy."Indeed, the United Nations Environmental Programme laid bare the scale of plastic pollution in the ocean last year: