Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. I would like to start by genuinely welcoming the opportunity to have this debate today on this important topic—a topic that is incredibly prevalent in both the public and political consciousness. Plastic is a modern material that has transformed our lives—in many ways for the better. In the right way, it’s an important, useful material that has many applications, not least in medical usages, but has now increasingly and often brutally brought home just how the throwaway culture, which developed in the latter part of the last century, is costing our environment dearly.

We have to find innovative and effective ways to deal with plastic waste and end the use of unnecessary single-use plastics and materials that cannot be recycled or reprocessed. We’ve heard today how we have to act for our environment and for our future generations. And so much of the work to tackle plastic pollution is being led by young people, whether through our eco-schools network, localised action, and events of our own Youth Parliament. We can be proud of what we've achieved in Wales to date. We know we lead in the UK in municipal recycling with rates of 67.2 per cent, but we cannot be, and are not, complacent. I liked the way David Melding put it when he said we can bank what we've done and then go further, and that's what we are committed to doing.

There is no simple solution or perfect panacea for tackling the problem of plastic. Tackling plastic waste is complex and multifaceted, crossing personal, business and inter-governmental boundaries. So, we're working with industry and local authority partners to develop new infrastructure to increase the sorting and repossessing of plastic waste in Wales. We want to significantly reduce the reliance on overseas markets to recycle the plastic waste collected here at home in Wales. I have therefore agreed that the use of the £6.5 million circular economy capital investment fund for 2019-20 is focused strongly on the recycling of plastics. WRAP Cymru are overseeing the scheme on our behalf and I'm happy to circulate further details to Members.

Alongside that, we need to consider the management of plastic in the supply chain. Deposit-return schemes are proving—[Interruption.] Yes, sure.