Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, it's a pleasure to move the motion this afternoon that is laid in the name of Darren Millar. We are really in the twilight zone for a Wednesday afternoon, but I'm pleased to see that Members from all parties have stayed for the debate this afternoon. If I can just deal with the amendments first, and then I'll move into the substantive part of my speech.

Sadly, the Government have reverted to form and got a 'delete all' amendment down. I'm not quite sure why our whole motion needs to be deleted, and then you take two points of that motion and insert them into your amendment. That does seem slightly bizarre to me. On the Plaid amendments, we'll happily support the first of Plaid's amendments, and on the second we'll be abstaining, not because we disagree with that amendment but because we are unsure whether the technology is there to actually deliver on that aspiration. If, in the Plaid spokesperson's points this afternoon, you can convince us of that then we'll happily support accordingly, but at the moment we don't think the technology is there to move it along.

So, moving on, today's motion states that this is an issue that is wholeheartedly resonating with the Welsh public and one that they are placing a growing importance on us as politicians to tackle. Latest polling shows that an overwhelming majority of the public are concerned about the use of plastic and, in part, that has been sparked by David Attenborough's brilliant, illuminating Blue Planet series, which has served to highlight the ever-increasing detrimental impact that plastic litter is having on our natural environment.

You only have to look a stone's throw away from Cardiff Bay itself to sadly see the significant levels of plastic that are entering our marine environment, and it is clear that, as politicians, we have a duty to act. Indeed, a study by Cardiff University found that one in every two insects in the river Taff system contained microplastics, and there is evidence that these microplastic particles are being ingested by river birds. We can be in no doubt that plastic is wreaking havoc on our environment, having a terrible impact on animals and wildlife and degrading our most precious habitats.

And it is not only isolated to marine life. It is also having a detrimental impact on our streets and our neighbourhoods. It is absolutely vital that we act now to tackle this threat and curb the millions of plastic bottles that we find discarded each day and not sent for recycling. We need to educate and deliver a huge change in the behaviour and habits of people. Without urgent action to cut demand, it is estimated that 34 billion tonnes of plastic will have been manufactured globally by 2050.

The shelf-life of plastics means that they can last for centuries in landfill or else end up as litter in the natural environment. In turn, this can pollute soils, rivers and oceans and harm the creatures that inhabit them. It is in the fish were eating; it is even in the bottled water we're drinking. Estimates vary, but the Canal and River Trust and Coventry University estimate that 14 million pieces of plastic end up in British rivers and canals each year, with around 0.5 million items of plastic being carried into the ocean.

I think we all agree in this Chamber that a key part of our mission as AMs is to leave the environment and our country in a better state than we found it. At UK level, the Conservative Government has made great strides in tackling the scourge of plastics, through its 25-year environmental plan, which has brought forward important measures, such as the ban on microbeads in personal care and cosmetic products, and a ban on plastic straws, stirrers and cotton buds. And whilst there is a good level of co-operation between the two Governments on these issues, it's clear that, in Wales, we can be doing more.

As highlighted yesterday by the latest member of the opposition ranks, the Member for Blaenau Gwent, who sadly isn't with us today, who said that Wales seemed to be struggling in this particular policy area of late, and we could and should be far more ambitious. Because whilst I am a supporter of the UK Government's achievements on policy platforms, I want to see Wales leading from the front on this issue, and, at the moment, we're behind the curve, not just the rest of the UK, but other countries across the globe, in tackling this issue.