5. 4. Statement: Building on our Recycling Success for a Circular Economy

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:52 pm on 14 June 2016.

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Photo of Lesley Griffiths Lesley Griffiths Labour 3:52, 14 June 2016

Thank you, Jenny Rathbone. You will have heard me say to previous Members my views on deposit-return schemes, in relation to your last question. In relation to throwing out by weight, a briefing I read was embracing what other European countries have done. I think Austria and Italy and parts of Belgium were areas where they’d had a pay-as-you-throw tax. I actually think that’s quite controversial. Going forward, we would have to consider future models of how we fund local authorities to deliver the high-quality services that we’ve seen. But, certainly, I wouldn’t think pay-as-you-throw would be something that I would want to see here in Wales.

I absolutely agree that we know that probably 50 per cent of rubbish thrown into a black bin could be recycled. It’s about ensuring that we find a way of encouraging people to look at what they’re throwing away—to have a look around their house and see what they can throw away, and to make sure they throw the right things away in the right places at the right time. It may be that we need to have a further campaign, for instance, to raise public awareness. I think that’s been very successful previously. But these are all things that I will have to consider to make sure that we do reach that 70 per cent target.