Diolch, Llywydd. I want to thank Huw Irranca-Davies and all of the Members who've been part of bringing forward this debate today. I think the strength of cross-party support of speakers in the debate is testament to the non-partisan passion in this area, a passion that I share both personally and politically. I think the interest to tackle the use of single-use plastic within here, within this place, is also reflective and perhaps partially driven by what I hear loud and clear across the country, whether that be from our eco-schools or from our communities who are taking action to become single-use plastic free. There is an enormous amount of commitment and goodwill across the country to drive a change in the amount of plastic that we use and clamp down on single-use plastic and I want to strongly support that. 

At the outset, I want to make it clear that I'm certainly singing from the same hymn sheet as Members who are calling for us to prevent or reduce unnecessary or non-recyclable plastic products and packaging. I'm keen to go further and faster in this area, but firstly I want to just, only briefly, touch on what we've done and what we're doing. We can be proud, as Members have said, of what we've done to date. Wales was the first country in the UK to introduce a charge on plastic carrier bags in 2011, and we're a global leader when it comes to recycling, with plastic amongst the materials and others collected from every household in Wales. 

We've recently launched a consultation, which, effectively, requires businesses to separately collect materials for recycling for collection, just as householders in Wales have been doing for years. The result of this will be more high-quality segregated materials that are available for recycling and less waste going to landfill. But, as you've heard here today, to really tackle plastic waste and pollution we know that we must go beyond recycling and reduce waste in the first place.

Huw Irranca-Davies's opening talked about a broader approach in terms of banning some single-use plastic items. That's why we want to bring forward a ban or restriction on the sale of the 10 most commonly littered single-use plastic items. This will include straws, stirrers, cotton buds, single-use plastic cutlery, and expanded polystyrene food packaging and drinks containers. 

To maximise the impact we have, we've been collaborating with other Governments to bring about wider change and have already announced that we are taking forward reforms to the packaging regime through extended producer responsibility and developing proposals to produce a deposit-return scheme alongside the UK Government. 

I want to make it clear to Members that, whilst we actively work with counterparts across the UK in both the UK Government and Scottish Government on legislative proposals and needed an Order to take action on single-use plastic—we hear from businesses and consumers that this would make things easier across the piece for everyone—likewise I want to reassure Members that we are not afraid to go it alone if needs be, and we're committed to working in parallel.

The UK Environment Bill that was laid yesterday contains provisions that will enable the development of new regulations in Wales for game-changing initiatives such as extended producer responsibility, deposit-return schemes, charges for single-use plastic items and environmental labelling and standards for products—all avenues that I'm committed to pursuing. However, as I said, whilst we're committed to working collaboratively, in a cross-border fashion, we're also not afraid to go it alone where needs be and to take forward things that we can do on a Wales-only basis as well. 

I started, Llywydd, by setting out my support for Members' calls for action on single-use plastics, and our aim as part of this is to move towards the more circular economy in Wales, where waste is avoided and resources are kept in use as long as possible. This not only cuts down on waste but is a key part of the action needed on climate change, and, on the day we had our first climate conference, it also brings broader and bigger economic opportunities as part of the transition to a low-carbon economy. And I know that many businesses are already shifting away from single-use plastics.

Members have raised the possibility of introducing a single-use plastics Bill, and it's right that we should aim to prevent or reduce unnecessary non-recyclable plastic products and packaging where we can. I am committed to taking action to reduce our consumption of single-use coffee cups and other single-use cups for beverages. A range of options are currently being actively explored—options that include possible levies, charges or taxes. I think Members have recognised that, unfortunately, while we want things to happen as quickly as possible, obviously there are processes to go through and some things can be quite complex, and we need to make sure that, if we do things, we do things in the right way that doesn't have any unintended consequences. So, while these proposals are being worked up and finalised, I've asked officials to identify other measures and steps we could take to much sooner lead the way in Wales—steps that could build upon the many voluntary initiatives that have been developed by companies across the UK. For example, I think a couple of Members touched on the waste produced by major events or stadiums, and while we've seen a shift in terms of good and best practice from some of the events and activities that Members have mentioned within this debate today and we've seen strides forward, perhaps we need a little push to take that work over the line now.

As a Government, we agree that addressing the challenge of plastic pollution must be central to our efforts to reduce waste and a comprehensive and ambitious approach is needed. I've already mentioned to Members previously that we'll be publishing a new and comprehensive strategy for consultation later this year, which will build on our earlier progress on the 'Towards Zero Waste' strategy. It will set out a plan as to how to take further action on plastics and other materials. It will be a strategic, cross-sector approach that will address the issue of plastic pollution, but also other materials. As Members have raised today, the nub of all of this is our consumption of single-use materials as well. And what I want to show Members with this strategy is that we often talk about strategies being written, done and dusted and put on the shelf, but I'm keen for this to be much more innovative and be part of an active conversation and to provide a platform for visible action and milestones.

I know I need to come to an end, Llywydd, so just to round up, we've heard many ideas, a lot of expertise and there's a lot of enthusiasm in this area, and I'd quite like to bottle that and take it away, but I assure Members I'd do so in a reusable and refillable bottle. But, indeed, just to close, to reassure the Member, I want to say that I'm keen to look at how we establish a means to bring people together, to get us in a room and around a table to talk about these ideas and how we implement them and take them forward, and also, importantly, to create a mechanism to enable communities across the country to input to this. From what I've heard today in this debate and the work with stakeholders and citizens alike and within Government, I know that, collectively and collaboratively, we continue to lead the way in Wales to a more sustainable world and a future that works in the interests of our environment, our communities and our economy. Diolch yn fawr.