Party politics were put aside when Sutton Council unanimously backed a motion for plastic waste in the borough to be reduced.

The first full council meeting since May’s elections took place at Overton Grange School in Stanley Road on Monday (September 10).

A handful of councillors gave their maiden speeches to welcome a motion from Cllr Hanna Zuchowska (Lib Dem, Wandle Valley).

She said by working together she hopes to see a reduction in single use plastics.

The motion put forward that an audit of single-use plastic would be carried out by the council.

Where possible these are set to be replaced by re-usable and sustainable alternatives.

It also included giving people in Sutton more places to fill up their water bottles.

This would be in local businesses and potentially by installing free water fountains with the help of the Mayor of London and TFL.

In the debate Cllr Tony Shields (Conservative, Sutton South) spoke out on the council’s use of disposable sachets of coffee.

“If is nice to have a cuddly topic that we agree on,” he said.

“We have all drank out of these little polythene sachets, I think this authority could wake up and smell the coffee and have a good old jar of any coffee of choice.”

His sentiment was backed by Cllr Peter Geringer (Conservative, Nonsuch) who said: “May I suggest that you put your money where your mouth is by getting rid of plastic cups from the civic offices.”

Seconding Cllr Zuchowska’s motion, Cllr Manuel Abellan (Lib Dem, Beddington South) said he hoped the motion would encourage people in Sutton to think about their own plastic use.

He said: “It is great to see so many people speak with passion on this issues.

“I’ve been a  councillor for four years and what we often see with motions is that they never leave the chamber.

“I really hope that this motion is going to be a catalyst and create a revolution here.”

The motion also included the council calling on supermarkets in the borough to reduce the use of plastic food wrapping.