7. Statement by the Minister for Environment: Extended Producer Responsibility

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:56 pm on 8 May 2018.

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Photo of Hannah Blythyn Hannah Blythyn Labour 5:56, 8 May 2018

Diolch, Llywydd. I welcome the Member's broad support for the statement today and the recommendations of the report. You touch on the wider litter issue too. That's why looking at how we tackle on-the-go waste—. We're not only going to tackle litter but actually increase our recycling rate and tackle the use of single-use plastics, whether that be bottles or beverage containers. I think that's why it's really important that we look at these things as a whole and don't just focus on—although single-use plastic is the one that is prevalent and making headlines in the news—one area and inadvertently divert the issue to another. You make a very interesting point about the condiment cups and the way things have changed, and I think we have started almost to reach somewhat of a tipping point now in terms of the public's awareness of these things. I won't mention any outlets' names, but I've noticed that a few fast-food retailers are starting to use—so you have a paper sachet and you put it in from a dispenser rather than the individual sachets.

I think you're absolutely right in terms of the approach of working with stakeholders, with business, because I think there is a responsibility on all of us and we have seen, actually, not only the public's perception of this shift, but also I think we're seeing it from businesses now. They know that it's being consumer-driven, and I think you've seen the range of announcements from various supermarkets and retailers saying that they're going to change their behaviour and practices. Absolutely we all have a part to play in this. We can legislate and take action as a Government, but there are community initiatives that are so important in terms of driving this agenda forward, and businesses should play their part as well because the whole point of extended producer responsibility is that producers and manufacturers aren't just responsible for things at the point of sale that they produce; they're responsible in terms of what happens at the end of life and reuse after that.

In terms of a deposit-return system, in terms of an industry-led scheme, in terms of the detail, that is something I hope to start to work out with my counterparts. Actually, at the moment, that is open, depending on the evidence—the call for evidence and what we get from that—and we'll take a decision on that and make the best decision in terms of having the optimum benefits for us in Wales.

On Refill water, somebody described it today as 'revolutionary', but it's something that you would see as quite obvious, really, that we can do and should be doing. Again, I think it's a relatively new phenomenon, perhaps in the last decade, that we see people walking around with bottles of water and coffee cups. Again, it's about seeing how we can embrace the public mood now in terms of how we tackle that and actually start to tackle the use of single-use plastics. So, there are different ways we can do it as well as looking at taxation and deposit-return schemes. Actually, the indirect impact, potentially, of a Refill scheme across the country is that people will use less single-use plastics as well. So, I look forward to being able to update Members on that in due course.