CALLS have been made by civic chiefs to stamp out the use of single-use plastic bottles and cups in a Hampshire borough.

Park Gate councillor Simon Martin has put forward a motion which will be debated by councillors in Fareham tomorrow.

Councillor Martin said: “I propose that the council reviews its use of single-use plastics and develops a strategy to phase out their use within the council’s offices and buildings as quickly as it is reasonably practicable to do so.”

Under the plans, an education programme would be developed within the borough to encourage businesses, restaurants and bars to phase out SUP glasses, bottles, cutlery and straws to encourage reuseable or deposit scheme cups.

Councillor Sean Woodward, executive leader of Fareham Borough Council is backing the motion and added: “This is a critical issue highlighted by Blue Planet 2 showing the harm caused by throwaway cups and cutlery finding their ways into our oceans.”

Tim Pratt, co-ordinator of Fareham and Gosport Friends of the Earth said: “We fully support Cllr Martin’s motion and hope Fareham will join the many councils around the country who have now committed to reducing the huge volumes of unnecessary plastic waste we currently generate.

“The materials that single-use plastic’s (SUP’s) are manufactured from take thousands of years to develop, yet they are used by consumers within one to two minutes.”

The group claims that more than eight million tonnes of plastic waste enters the ocean every year and more than 80 per cent of plastic waste produced in the UK goes straight to landfill.