We now move to item 9, which is the short debate, and I call on Hefin David to speak to the topic he has chosen. Hefin.

Dirprwy Lywydd, it's my pleasure to give a minute of this short debate to, respectively, Joyce Watson, David Melding, Rhianon Passmore and Jenny Rathbone, which I think demonstrates the importance of this debate today.

If you lined up all the polystyrene foam cups made in just one day, they would encircle the earth. If you lined up all the plastic straws used in the UK every three days, they would circle the earth twice. Closer to home, if we home in on Wales, recent research by Professor Steve Ormerod of Cardiff University found plastics in 50 per cent of freshwater insects from rivers in south Wales. The demonstrates the intensity of the problem.

In 1950, the world's population of 2.5 billion produced 1.5 million tonnes of plastic. In 2016, a global population of more than 7 billion produced over 320 million tonnes of plastic, and this is set to double by 2034. Just as Huw Irranca-Davies was leaving the Chamber he said to me, 'You've got this debate today and do you realise you've got two plastic pens on your desk?' And I'm not afraid to embarrass Huw Irranca-Davies today by saying he's not here for the debate, but he embarrassed me by reminding me of that, and I've also got a whole load of plastic pens in my pocket as well.

We are addicted to plastic. Every day, approximately 8 million pieces of plastic pollution find their way into our oceans and there may be around 5.3 trillion macro and microplastic pieces floating in the open ocean weighing up to 269,000 tonnes. These are frightening statistics, and 100,000 marine mammals and turtles and 1 million sea birds are killed by marine plastic pollution annually. It is an environmental problem that is being caused by us today and our addiction to plastic. And we throw it away. Most families throw away around 40 kg of plastic per year, which could otherwise be recycled. Recycling just one plastic bottle saves enough energy to power a 60 W light bulb for six hours. Seventy-five per cent of post-consumer plastic waste is sent to landfill.

Our awareness of this problem has only relatively recently, I feel, come to attention. I was aware of it, but I only became aware of the depth of this issue and the dangers of this issue as a result of researching it for this debate. But Sir David Attenborough's Blue Planet II documentary was particularly credited in late 2017 with giving us a deeper insight into this, and hopefully spurring on Governments to take action in addition to the other environmental duties that they have, but also take action in relation, particularly, to plastic waste. As a result, last February the Scottish Government set out plans to ban plastic straws by the end of the year. Last April the UK Government announced it was considering a ban on single-use plastic products such as stirrers, straws and cotton wool buds. Think about the plastic you use. Think about the plastic you use every single day.

The Welsh Government has announced, and I'm sure the Deputy Minister's going to be raising it, plans to work with other parts of the UK on a deposit-return scheme and funding to help local authorities with plastic recycling and some other things that I'm going to come on to and ask the Welsh Government to consider. I've met with environmental campaigners and they've long argued about plastic waste and called for action, but it's still a huge issue and we have some way to go. Last July, the Welsh Government passed a new law banning shops in Wales from selling bathroom products containing plastic microbeads, for example, but these piecemeal actions need to be formed into a wider strategy.

I want to talk about Caerphilly and what's happening for a plastic-free Caerphilly. Two weeks ago 30 people—and this is one of the reasons why I chose this subject for the debate—attended a meeting of a group called Plastic-Free Caerphilly, which shows there is a growing enthusiasm for tackling plastic waste and making our local communities plastic free. Local residents, schools and business owners are working with Caerphilly County Borough Council, Friends of the Earth Caerphilly and a group called Surfers Against Sewage to get Caerphilly plastic-free status, and as part of my visit, my Small Business Saturday visit—one of my first ones when I was elected was to a business called Plant2Plate, and they sell healthy, sustainable packaged food, and they have taken major steps to being a plastic-free business in Caerphilly town. There's also The Vegan Box and The Old Library, which have made the same attempts in Caerphilly, and Transcend Packaging I've visited on Dyffryn Business Park. Transcend Packaging last June became one of only two companies in the whole of the UK to win a contract to provide paper straws to all McDonalds restaurants in the UK and Ireland. And I saw the factory in which they're doing it—it's walking distance from my house. Across the UK, we will see those paper straws going into McDonalds.

In preparation for this debate—it was on the agenda—I had a very angry e-mail from the leader of Caerphilly County Borough Council. He said, 'Hefin, I hope you are going to mention what Caerphilly council is doing. You should always get in touch with me to find out what we're doing because we're doing great things in Caerphilly.' And sure enough, I did, I found out. And what Caerphilly council has done is to establish a plastics challenge project group, which consists of a number of its own officers, together with representation from the Welsh Government, WRAP Cymru and Eunomia Research. They are considering the issue of problematic plastics, particularly in the context of waste management and waste prevention. I look forward to hearing more about the report from that group from Caerphilly council when next I meet with the leader, Councillor Dave Poole. 

Caerphilly council have also introduced watercourse environmental clean-ups, a statutory cleansing service that clears over 1,000 tonnes of plastic a year, and a weekly recycling service that collects 20,000 tonnes for reprocessing—amongst other things. Caerphilly council is taking action. And I should also mention Anna McMorrin MP, who introduced a Bill in Parliament to require producers of packaging products to assume responsibility for collection, transportation, recycling, disposal and recovery of plastic products. And Jenny Rathbone had, a few weeks ago, a Member's legislative proposal along those lines too, to which I contributed and from which I took much inspiration for what I'm saying today.

I forgot to mention plastic bags. The Welsh Government were pioneers when it came to plastic bags, but did you know that Kenya has some of the toughest anti-plastic laws in the world? In Kenya, you could face a four-year jail term for producing, selling or using a plastic bag. I'm not suggesting we go that far—I'm not suggesting we go that far, but countries are taking it seriously. We led the way here in Wales and we should be proud of that.

There's another country that Wales could learn from and which we could take examples from, and that's Costa Rica. In 2015 a video of a marine biologist pulling plastic from the nose of a sea turtle went viral—in Costa Rica. This prompted action to be taken. Since then, Costa Rica's gained a reputation for being eco-friendly and powered itself on 100 per cent renewable energy for two thirds of the year in 2016. Now Costa Rica's next aim is to become the first country to ban all single-use plastics by 2021, including cutlery, bottles and bags. To meet this very ambitious deadline, the Government are offering incentives to businesses as well as researching alternatives to single-use plastics. Now, Costa Rica's not a big country but it's bigger than Wales, and we should be looking at them to inspire the ambition we have to deal with plastics.

We must, though, focus on what we can do closer to home. As I've mentioned, there's a lot of good work being done by the Welsh Government and by local authorities. Last week, the Marine Conservation Society held an event in Tŷ Hywel that was well attended by Members. Again, I'll say, Jenny Rathbone, I saw your video—recycling the plastic bottle and getting a receipt for it. This deposit-refund system—drinks bottles and cans and their tops make around 10 per cent of litter and a deposit-refund scheme can then enable us to, or encourage us to recycle, for which we get a receipt and possibly money off shopping. That creates the habit—the habit of recycling plastic. 

The introduction of a true, extended producer responsibility system, ensuring producers are fully responsible for the recovery, recycling and disposal of their products, including any costs incurred through litter prevention and clean-ups, would be welcome. At present, the UK system means that only about 10 per cent of these costs are borne by the producers, while the rest is falling as a burden on the taxpayer. 

Finally, the one we've talked about most: a levy on disposable drinks cups. Such a levy would encourage reduction in consumption, in line with the principles of waste hierarchy, in turn leading to a decrease in litter, and that is something that I would support.

We've led the way in so many areas—food hygiene, food waste management, and we have ambitious plans to become the world's first refill nation. What better way to cement this progress and our growing reputation than to tackle plastic waste? I urge the Minister in her response to consider some of the things I've talked about today, and I look forward to hearing what other Members have to say about progress we can make. 

Thank you, Hefin, for bringing what is a really, really important debate here. I think that all of this plastic we've talked about finds itself in one place eventually, and that is the sea. So, we have a Welsh marine fisheries Bill going through at the moment, and I think we need to seize the opportunity to actually insist that any marine fishing tackle is not made out of plastic from this moment forward. This is the moment. There is a public will behind this, and we really, really have to do something to start addressing what is an absolute catastrophe at the moment, and it is only going to get worse. 

Can I thank Hefin for bringing this subject to the Assembly today and really wish the Caerphilly campaign well? Last week, I facilitated the deposit-return scheme machine, which was on display. I think many Members came along and tested it out. And it is really, really easy to use—I can just see us all getting into a habit of using that, lots of small children wanting to put the bottles into the machine and then get the ticket out with a credit. It is not onerous.

As Joyce said, plastic is wreaking havoc on our marine environment, and we really need to do something to stop this. I hope that we can follow the good practice in Scotland, where they're moving forward on this agenda. I welcome the joint consultation on a deposit scheme undertaken now by the UK and Welsh Governments. It really can't happen quickly enough, in my view. 

And can I quickly finish my contribution by commending the Marine Conservation Society, who brought the deposit machine into the Assembly last week, for the outstanding work that they've done in this area?  

Firstly, thank you to my colleague, Hefin David, for bringing forward this really important debate to the floor of the Senedd today. As we know, single-use plastics and the pollution they cause represents one of the most serious environmental challenges facing the world today, and it can be difficult to see the real impact that any individual can have, but action must start, as has been said already, at a local level. I'm also pleased to welcome the work being done across Caerphilly borough, as a former Caerphilly councillor, to reduce plastic waste, with the council leading by example. But change will not be instant, and the innovative project group that has been mentioned and established within the council will help to reduce the amount of plastic used across the authority. In taking an evidence-based approach, the council will be able to set its example to residents across Caerphilly, and outline the steps we can all take to reduce our plastic waste.

But the place and perceived importance of plastic to us all is demonstrated by the fact that we nearly all have plastic pens with us today—I've probably got three—and is demonstrated by the fact that 60 per cent of the kerbside recycling picked up by Caerphilly council is plastic. Although it is of course good news that this plastic is being recycled, the best way to reduce our waste is not to purchase or use it in the first place. 

So, I'd like to join with Hefin in congratulating the work of the borough's first zero-waste shop, Plant 2 Plate, and I realise, from the owner's own words, that it's also important that we have a pan-Wales approach with regard to the collection, for instance, of the vegetable packaging, which although is not plastic, looks as if it's plastic and is currently not being recycled.  

You are taking your colleague's time. You have had nearly two and a half minutes, so—

I'll come to a close. So, as we move forward, then—

Well, I have to call the Minister when the clock goes to 15 minutes, so you're not allowing Jenny Rathbone an opportunity. 

So, I welcome very much the approach that we're taking. Thank you. 

I'm glad you referenced Steve Ormerod, because if we eat fish, we're eating plastic. We need to heavily tax any manufacturers who are producing plastics that are not recyclable and I agree that there's growing enthusiasm for doing something about it. Ripple on Albany Road is a fantastic success. It's just opened—you can take all your old bottles there and you fill up with your household goods.

Thank you very much, and thank you for that. I now call on the Deputy Minister for Housing and Local Government to reply to the debate—Hannah Blythyn.

Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. I'd like to start by thanking my colleague, Hefin David, for bringing forward this short debate on what is a prevalent topic, both prevalent now, as we said, in the public and political consciousness, but also in terms of the problem of plastic pollution. As we've all said in the Chamber, plastic is everywhere and we use it every day, and in some aspects it has a purpose and a place, but I think what we're all becoming increasingly aware of is the problem posed by single-use, often unnecessary, throw-away plastic.

Hefin reeled off a number of startling statistics and facts, and I'm not going to try and repeat all of them now, but one thing that really sticks is my mind is that if we don't take action to tackle plastic pollution, by 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in our seas. So, we are seeing communities across the country taking action to tackle single-use plastic and I'd like to take the opportunity today to give this rise of community campaigns the recognition it deserves, and it's fantastic to see Caerphilly joining this network towards change in our country.

And it's right—there is a role for all of us to play, as citizens, consumers, producers, retailers, businesses, policy makers and, of course, politicians. And our local authority partners have a pivotal part to play, both in working together to reduce the use of plastic in publicly supported organisations, specifically schools, and in the collection and processing of waste and recyclables. We know that Wales is the only nation in the UK that has statutory targets for recycling. All of our local authorities collect plastic for recycling, and RECOUP's UK survey for 2017 shows that Wales collects for recycling 74 per cent of the plastic bottles, and 51 per cent of the plastic pots, tubs and trays that are estimated to be put on the market here in Wales. We know that local authorities are key to our aspirations to reduce and indeed to ensure that plastic waste is recycled. And I was interested to hear of the project you talked about in Caerphilly, saying about the different stakeholders coming together, and I'd also be interested to hear about the progress of that and what could be shared elsewhere across the country.

Also, local authorities have the opportunity to maximise the considerable leverage they can have through procurement, and we're working with some local authorities on a number of pilot projects in Wales to demonstrate how procurement can deliver more sustainable solutions. A number of these are focusing on a more appropriate use of plastic, with one aimed at reducing plastic in the food supply chain, and another two are trialling a switch from plastic to glass milk bottles in schools. And I'm pleased that the Waste and Resources Action Programme, WRAP, are working with us on these pilots, assessing the implications of the different materials on cost, end users and suppliers. The results of these pilots will be shared with other local authorities to encourage similar behavioural change. And I know that it's something on the minds of a lot of the young people in those schools, as I've received, and in my previous portfolio, a number of letters from children keen to see the change from plastic milk bottles in their schools to cut down on their single-use plastic use.

And we know that we as householders in Wales have been separating our waste and recycling for collection for years, and this Government will consult further so that businesses and organisations are required to do the same under provisions of Part 4 of the environment Act.

We're also working closely with both industry and local authority partners to increase treatment capacity here in Wales of the plastics that we collect. But as we've heard here today, prevailing opinion is moving towards producers needing to take more responsibility for the end-of-life management of the plastic that they put on the market in the first place, and changes to regulations will help address that. You touched on the extended producer responsibility and, currently, producers [Inaudible.] 10 per cent of that. In line with the 'polluter pays' principle, the Welsh Government will shortly consult, alongside the UK and Scottish Governments, on proposals for reforming the EPR regime for packaging on a UK-wide basis.

As I expected, deposit-return schemes scored high on the agenda, and I actually popped into the showcase here in the Senedd and had a go myself. It's something that will appeal to children, and when I've had conversations with counterparts in other nations that already have these, we often hear stories of enterprising young people, after there's been an event or festival, going round collecting the containers that are eligible for a DRS and taking them along to the local collection point. So, at the same time that we will consult jointly with the UK Government on the development of an EPR scheme, we'll also consult jointly on a deposit-return scheme, and I intend that to happen very shortly. As part of this consultation and any scheme, I think it's important that we actually consider holistically the impact on industry, on consumers and on our local authority collection services and statutory recycling targets here in Wales.

We know—and I know I keep repeating this—that we do lead the way in the UK when it comes to recycling, so we're coming at this from a different starting point from our counterparts in both Scotland and England, but we are not complacent. We want to be first in the world on recycling by both complementing the work that is already being done here and building on it with a system that works for us all in Wales.

At the moment, we also aspire to be a refill nation. I was pleased, in my previous portfolio, to announce our ambition to do this and to see many communities across the country taking this up now. I also note that the Member's own local authority, Caerphilly, is in the process of setting up a refill scheme across the county and is proactively encouraging businesses in the area to sign up at refill stations. It's an incredibly simple but effective way to not only help people in terms of health and well-being and rehydration but actually to cut down on single-use plastic bottles in the process.

We've talked about taxation here today. We know that the UK Government in the 2018 budget announced measures regarding a plastics tax. The Welsh Treasury is now working with HM Treasury on the possibility of [Inaudible.] single-use disposal plastic tax through taxation, and we are monitoring closely the development of proposals in this area to make sure stakeholders have an opportunity to help inform thinking and that any measures are both fit for purpose and fit with our ambitions with our Welsh way on tackling waste.

On a tax on single-use beverage containers, often known in the press and colloquially as a 'latte levy', we did say previously that introducing a stand-alone Welsh tax levy or charge on single-use beverage/drinks containers remains an option for Wales, and it's something that I'm keen to explore further. Alongside this, we also welcome the aims of the single-use plastics EU directive and broadly support the measures that have been put forward. My officials are currently examining the final draft text and continue to work with the UK Government and devolved administrations to determine how best to implement the various provisions included.

Dirprwy Lywydd, I'm aware of the constraints on time today. We've talked about the waste hierarchy and the need to reduce and reuse as well as recycle, and there are a great number of reuse projects happening across the country now, and I've been pleased to visit a number of them. But actually one important issue that I do want to mention is the development of a route-map for improving the circularity of plastic in Wales. The principal focus of this is increasing recycled content within plastic products and components of packaging that are manufactured here in Wales but also significantly reducing our reliance on overseas markets to recycle the plastics collected here.

I think it's essential that Wales develops a circular economy in terms of the plastic we use, dispose of and reprocess, and we are supporting this through our £6.5 million circular economy investment fund. We want to support and encourage innovation and new technologies so that we see a wider range of plastics collected and recycled and increase the use of recycled plastics in manufacturing. This will not only be efficient by reducing plastic waste but it can also create more jobs and help grow our economy. So, we can see that when we get things right on the environment, it can bring broader economic benefits. And we're seeing more and more organisations such as zero-waste shops and the popularity of that growing across the country, and that is to be welcomed. I think we've said here before that we are almost going full circle. We've basked in the convenience of that throwaway culture in the past, and now there is growing realisation of the impact that is having for today and for the future, so more people are going back to actually thinking about our own behaviours and how we actually cut down on our own single-use plastic use as well. The Member mentioned a few in his own constituency, including Transcend Packaging, which is indeed a Welsh company supported by Welsh Government, which supplies paper straws to McDonald's across the country. I understand they're phasing it out at the moment, in terms of McDonald's itself, and I'm looking forward to potentially visiting the McDonald's in north Wales where I had my first ever job to see the paper straws in use there.

You're right that we led the way on the plastic bags levy, and I'm not quite sure but I think you're right that we don't want to go quite as far as Kenya, but actually it does show how other countries are—. This is on the agenda for all of us, and the really valid point you make is about not taking piecemeal action, but that we think about this holistically and bring all the things we've talked about today together, and look at, actually, the impact of what we do and make sure it works for us in Wales. The onus is on all of us to take action, and I think we can see today that we are. That awareness is growing, and our communities are leading the way. Our country has led the way before, and I am personally passionate, and this Government places political priority on us continuing to lead the way in the interests of our environment, economy and future generations.

Thank you very much. That brings today's proceedings to a close. Thank you.

The meeting ended at 18:15.