Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:23 pm on 24 September 2019.
Thank you. I'd like to thank you, Deputy Minister, for your statement today. I was very proud that you kicked off Recycle Week with a visit to Bryn Pica in my constituency, which—. I may be biased, but I think it's at the vanguard of recycling in Wales, with innovative schemes there like their mattress recycling—I think they're the only place in Wales that does that—nappy recycling, turning nappies into plastic pellets that can be used to make decking, an anaerobic digester, the education centre, which I believe you visited, and many exciting plans for the future as well. And I'd like to associate myself with the comments made by Dai Lloyd about the potential for us to, here in Wales, really capitalise on recycling and use that to transform our economies. I know that there are many interesting proposals that they have in Bryn Pica, such as recycling hard plastic, which could be used to really rejuvenate the local economy as well, and to capitalise on the energy from the anaerobic digester. I know that Welsh Government has had some discussions around this, but I'm just looking for some reassurance that those talks are still ongoing and to know what sort of examples of good practice that you might have seen at Bryn Pica today that could be maybe rolled out across Wales.
I'm also really pleased that your statement refers to recycling in schools. I've had so many local schoolchildren contact me about this. It's an issue that they feel so passionately about, and I've actually held discussions with my local Youth Parliament Member and Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council about how we can reduce the use of plastics and non-recyclables in school catering. But, with the Welsh Youth Parliament pledging to tackle plastic waste, do you think there's any scope for Welsh Government to be working with the Welsh Youth Parliament to try to deliver on this aim?
And the third point I'd like to make is that social businesses are often already at the forefront of the recycling agenda, particularly when it comes to the reuse side of things, such as the award-winning RCT-based toogoodtowaste, who I visited over the summer, who recycle household goods and white goods and furniture. And also the Rhondda-based Greenstream Flooring, who attended today's UnLtd lunchtime event and recycle industrial carpet tiles for use in social housing. So, what work do you think could be done to roll out the good practice from the social enterprise sector into the wider business sector?