7. 7. Debate: The Circular Economy

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:53 pm on 17 October 2017.

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Photo of Mr Simon Thomas Mr Simon Thomas Plaid Cymru 4:53, 17 October 2017

(Translated)

Thank you, Llywydd, and I move those amendments.

May I welcome the fact that we are discussing a success in this area and the fact that the Government has ambition and wants to raise recycling levels even more and move towards a no-waste economy? Plaid Cymru’s amendments turn around the fact that although there is ambition, there’s always room for greater ambition in my view.

Given that Ceredigion is the best performing council on recycling at the moment and is already reaching 70 per cent recycling, then setting 80 per cent for everyone by 2030 isn’t challenging enough, in my view. Therefore, Plaid Cymru is of the view that we should set a target by 2030 of a zero-waste economy, moving everyone along with the best performing to that objective. But I welcome the fact that there is at least some progress and a strong message conveyed by Government that they do want to increase the targets for those few authorities in Wales that are only just getting the targets at the moment.