Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:42 pm on 14 June 2016.
Thank you, David Melding, for your kind words. I only realised just yesterday—because, obviously, I’ve only been here since 2007—that ‘Cabinet Secretary’ was used. So, again, that was a much better joke than Simon Thomas’s. [Laughter.] You are quite right, and it’s very good that you recognise the high achievement of the recycling rates municipally. That’s why I was so candid about the commercial sector. What I want to do is build on the industrial and commercial sector plan that we have within our schemes to ensure that we do work with businesses. You will have heard me say before about the extended producer responsibility, but I think it’s about ensuring that we work with businesses to make sure that their design of products and packaging enables them then to reduce waste, to increase that reuse, to increase their recyclability and increase the recycled content.
It’s also about sustainable management of residual waste as well, and we need to be having those conversations with them. You mentioned European funding. Again, I’m due to meet my colleague the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government to have those discussions around how we can use European funding—yet another aspect about why we should vote to remain, I believe, next week, to make sure that that European funding is still there, going forward.
I think we’ve already offered a great deal of support to local government, for instance. I know that local government were quite cynical about these targets that we set for them in relation to municipal waste. I’m sure that when I do start to have those discussions with businesses I might meet with the same sort of level. So, it’s about not taking success for granted. It’s about all working very hard together to make sure that we improve the services and we are able to reach our target in due course.