Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and can I welcome the new Secretary to her role and yourself to the Deputy Presiding Officer’s role? I think it’s the first time you’ve been in the Chair, as well. [Assembly Members: ‘Hear, hear.’]

I’d like to thank the Secretary for her statement. I’d like to say there was an awful lot of rubbish in it, but I mean that in the best possible, positive way. [Laughter.] I’ll stick with the bad jokes after that one.

The one thing I did think about the way we describe this very positive story for Wales, however, is perhaps we need to be a little more proactive in the way we do it. I think ‘circular economy’ doesn’t do it on the doorstep for me. I think when you talk about a zero-waste strategy, people understand that, and I think when you talk about the jobs that can come from reusing our core materials that we use in our economy, I think people understand that. ‘Circular economy’ leaves me cold, so I hope the Government can come up with more exciting ways of describing what is a good news story for the Government and for Wales as a nation.

The questions I’d like to ask the Secretary at this stage are about how we are going to make further progress towards that target. Now, your statement today did focus on recycling, and I understand why, but, within a zero-waste strategy, of course, reduction and reuse are also key methods of achieving that, and, particularly in the low-carbon or zero-carbon aims that you have as a Government, reduction and reuse must come before even recycling. So, I’d like to hear a little more about what your thoughts are on how you’re going to use those tools to further your aims and, in that context, are you giving particular focus and consideration to, for example, a deposit-return scheme for plastic bottles in Wales? I took part in a beach clean fairly recently in Llansteffan; it was very noticeable that just about every second piece of item we picked up from the beach was a top of a plastic drink bottle—a sports cap. I think a way that we can encourage the reuse of such materials in Wales is something that I’d like to see this Government consider, and certainly, Plaid Cymru will be advocating. Are there things, as we’re looking towards the summer, and a lot of festivals—I’ve been to one or two already; looking forward to more—and agricultural shows and events and so forth, where we can build in reuse and recycling into these? Because there’s an awful lot of food waste, and an awful lot of plastic waste that’s created by our outdoor events. They are very important for our communities, but it would be good to have the zero-waste strategy put in the centre of those public events as well.

You said in the statement—it was quite interesting, I think—that it is important that people in Wales understand what’s happening to their waste. I do think that’s important; I get a lot of myths on the doorstep, quite literally, where people say that they put out the compost and, in fact, the compost is just incinerated somewhere; it doesn’t actually end up in a compost. I think we need to understand and explain this. Can you say, therefore, how you’re going to increase the amount of actual recycling that takes place here in Wales, the jobs here in Wales and the economy here in Wales? You mentioned in the statement that it’s about half of our recycling that actually takes place in our country. I think we should increase that, and I’d like the Government to have a specific target within its waste strategy to increase that.

The second element I’d like to ask you about is your view, or the Government’s view, on incineration. What place, if any, does incineration of waste have within the zero-waste strategy? My mind is that it should have no strategic role at all, and that you should look for a moratorium on incineration of waste. There are certain types of waste, of course, that have to be incinerated, like surgical waste and hospital waste, but as a waste reduction strategy, and waste recycling strategy, incineration should have no part. I think we’ve made some false steps in the past by encouraging local and regional solutions to waste strategy that haven’t addressed our national priorities. I hope that the lessons of the past have been learnt and you will bear down on any local authority or consortium that starts to use incineration as a way of dealing with this extremely important area, because, as your statement sets out, recycling and reusing these materials does in fact mean a better deal for our communities and our economy.

The final point I wanted to raise with you is one around commercial recycling. I think we’re all still very frustrated that, as we do our best in our own homes to compost, whether it’s in the garden or in the bins, whether we recycle and put cardboard to one side, put bottles to one side or put plastic to one side, when we try and purchase goods—and sometimes we do have to have new goods—we find them over-packaged and over-delivered in that way. It seems, really, that there is a limited stepping up to the plate by the commercial sector here. What elements of our success is down to success within the commercial sector, and what are you doing to increase the reduction, first of all, and very importantly, within the commercial sector, of unnecessary packaging and waste? I think it’s a bit unfair, in many cases, to put a burden on domestic ratepayers and domestic households, when we see so clearly that many companies, operating of course outside Wales as well, are not taking account of our message here of reduction and reuse.

It is a good success story that Wales is the fourth highest rate in Europe. It’s an excellent success story that we recycle more than the rest of the United Kingdom. We once did better on renewable energy as well and we fell behind. I hope we don’t fall behind in this matter, and I hope that in your response today, and in your work as a new Secretary, you will actually achieve your aim of a zero-waste economy in Wales.