5. Statement by the Deputy Minister for Housing and Local Government: Building on Wales's recycling record

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:13 pm on 24 September 2019.

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Photo of Hannah Blythyn Hannah Blythyn Labour 5:13, 24 September 2019

I don't disagree with many of the points that the Member's made there in terms of, actually, the need to develop the infrastructure here, and, at the same time, not only does that have the environmental benefit, if it reduces our carbon footprint, but also it creates the green jobs of the future as part of the circular economy within Wales.

As I touched on previously, we've written to local authorities to review their processes and see how we can best support that as well. But in terms of actually moving towards making sure we have that infrastructure in place, particularly in relation to plastics, there is work actively ongoing in terms of making sure we get that investment here and getting companies to invest here in terms of developing the infrastructure that we need.

Actually, about the carbon footprint of going—some of the things—across the globe, well, working on a regional level is the direction we are going in, because we want to make sure we don't actually—it's counterintuitive to transport waste or recycling just the length and breadth of the country as well. So, through the waste management board, I work very closely with the Welsh Local Government Association and the representatives on there, working in partnership to make sure that we can actually develop the infrastructure that not only we need at a Wales level, and that we want, because we want to meet these objectives in terms of the climate crisis, and also increasing our recycling rates, but also to actually support local authorities in terms of the economic benefits that that can bring for them as well. So, these are things that I'm more than happy to update Members about as we move along, and hopefully we should have some more announcements in the not too distant future.