THE leader of the Labour Group at Monmouthshire County Council (MCC) has submitted a motion to prohibit and discourage the sale of single-use plastic water bottles in council owned buildings.

Councillor Dimitri Batrouni is encouraging the council to do its bit to fight against the increasing problem of the number of plastic bottles ending up in the world’s oceans. It is estimated that the UK uses around 15 million plastic bottles per day. It is claimed in the next decade that the world’s oceans could hold one kilogram of plastic for every three kilograms of fish.

Leader of the Labour group, Cllr Dimitri Batrouni, said: “Monmouthshire is a green county. People respect and appreciate the environment. Anyone who walks around Monmouthshire’s coastline, even around our rivers and streams, will come across all sorts of rubbish, especially plastic bottles.

“We know they do great harm and the Labour group believes the council should make a principled stand and encourage the use of re-useable containers.”

If the motion passes, it is believed to be the first council in the UK to adopt such a policy.