A FORMER mayor of Worcester was so inspired by trips to Africa that he returned to the UK determined to do something about single-use plastic bags.

Dr David Tibbutt, who was a Conservative councillor at the Guildhall for 10 years until 2014, and Mayor in 2011-12 , has volunteered in Rwanda, carrying out medical work there, several times.

And he has always been impressed by the litter-free streets and the lack of plastic bags used in the country.

He said: “I can’t understand why, if a nation as small and poor as Rwanda can tackle the menace of single use plastic bags, then why can’t we do so in the world’s sixth biggest economy? There must be more we can do.”

Dr Tibbutt has taken the issue to his party colleague, Councillor Alan Feeney, who is vice chairman of the city council’s Environment Committee.

He wants to look at getting businesses to use bags made of different materials.

He said: “David is spot on with this. Each year over eight million tonnes of plastic enters our oceans with devastating results on marine life. I personally would like to see plastic bags phased out in favour of a biodegradable, reusable alternative. It is actually very simple to accomplish this and I will investigate the ways in which local businesses, city leaders and partners can work together make this happen.

“This is actually far easier than people think,” said Cllr Feeney who represents Warndon Parish North. “By getting businesses on side, people could actually save money as bags would no longer be plastic and therefore potentially not liable to the 5p charge. Let’s really get behind this and make Worcester the first city to go plastic bag free.”

The government introduced a 5p charge for plastic bags given out by shops in October 2015, which led to an 85 per cent drop in their use within a year. That followed a successful introduction of a charge in Wales.

Earlier this week Dutch supermarket Ekoplaza opened the world’s first plastics-free supermarket aisle, with more than 700 items wrapped, if at all, in biodegradable packaging.

Chairman of the environment committee is Labour councillor Joy Squires. She welcomed the prospect of working with Councillor Feeney, but took a different view of the politics of the matter

“I welcome any convert to the cause of tackling the scourge of plastic waste. Local action is important and can make a difference.

“But we have a Tory Government in charge that has set itself the unambitious target of eliminating plastic waste by 2042, 25 years from now. Set against that, claims that the Tories care about the damage caused by plastics seem hollow.”