I'm very pleased to take part in this debate—very timely; as Dai just indicated, there's a report just published by the Climate Change, Environment and Rural Affairs Committee on this subject, and I too thought the Chair's foreword was excellent and rather sobering, and I quote:

'Plastic pollution is now one of the greatest challenges facing our planet, and Wales can't solve this global problem on its own, but we cannot wait any longer, it's important that we step up and take a lead when we can.'

And that's very much what we should be doing. I know that there are some people in this Assembly who take the view that, because Wales is such a small part of the world population, we're sort of absolved from playing our part in these challenges. Well, that's not how it should be; we should be completely aware of our responsibility and we should try to lead where we can, and we've talked a little bit about recycling, and there are deeper issues there. But, broadly, I think Wales has done well there, and has led the way in many respects. 

Deputy Presiding Officer, I read today in one of our national newspapers that the World Wildlife Fund has just issued a report saying that the average person in Britain ingests the equivalent of a credit card's worth of plastic a week, and 90 per cent of that is via water. Now, I hope Radio 4's programme More or Less will be looking at that claim, because it seems absolutely fantastic to me that we can be consuming so much plastic directly. But it is a reminder that, particularly in our consumption of water and in consuming products that come in plastic containers, as more and more do, whereas, often, many of them would have been in glass or whatever—you know, these things really have to be borne in mind.

So, I've said I do commend the Government where it has taken action and I think the spirit of this motion is that we bank that but then go further and we do need, as Andrew said, to ensure that the next generation gets a greener, more sustainable environment than the one that we've inherited and, indeed, partly created.

I do want to look at the deposit scheme first, because I think it's interesting how the public not only widely accepts the need for this, but they've been ahead of us, they've really been pushing us to look at these schemes. I think this is true on many environmental issues as well, and we need to draw on that enthusiasm. In fairness to the Welsh Government, they have sponsored a report that looked at extending producer responsibility, and that demonstrates that a 90 plus per cent recycling rate could be achieved in this area, and, indeed, there is some best practice around the world that does demonstrate that. So, again, I do think that Welsh Government is right to be pushing in this area. And also, if you look at, in particular, a deposit-return scheme, one of the advantages of that is that we would also be developing very high-quality data in the way that those schemes tend to be run. Again, I think that would be very, very helpful for us, and we've heard issues of the circular economy referred to.

I think the Government is sending the right signals, but, like Andrew, I think you need to get a move on, and we need to see that there is some progress fairly soon. I was pleased that a significant number of Members, Deputy Presiding Officer, attended the event that I sponsored earlier this year, when a deposit-return scheme machine was brought into the Assembly, and we all had a chance to use it and see it in action. I think we were very impressed by how practical and effective it was, and I thank in particular the Marine Conservation Society for helping to organise that event, and, indeed, thank them for the wider work they do in Wales in leading the fight against plastic pollution.

I think the visible effect is really quite a concern as well. Andrew mentioned that we see it in our watercourses. I walk in to the Assembly more days than I drive, and I walk across the barrage, and to see the plastic waste being washed up against the barrage is really quite awful. So, I do think that we need to look at innovative ways, industry-led ways. That's the wonderful thing about the deposit scheme, that they would be responsible for it, at least with the favoured model, and we need to get on and do it.

Can I just conclude by saying how shocked I was by the documentaries on where we're sending our plastic waste, which we assume is being recycled? Malaysia and China were mentioned, and we need a reality check here, because this 'out of sight, out of mind' attitude needs to change, and we need to be assured that, when we're sending our waste abroad, it is actually getting recycled, and we're not just sending our problem abroad into economies and societies less equipped to recycle than we are. Thank you very much.