8. What actions is the Welsh Government taking to improve the rates of recycling in Islwyn? OAQ55189

Llywydd, the Welsh Government will invest in new infrastructure to treat materials not currently widely recycled, to bring a new focus to the recycling of waste, electrical and electronic equipment, and bring forward new regulations to improve business recycling. 

Thank you. The people of Islwyn are rightly proud of their contribution to Wales's reputation as a world leader in recycling, and our desire to move Wales towards becoming a zero-waste country by 2050. First Minister, following the recent devastating floods that impacted on Wales, Caerphilly County Borough Council then offered to collect people's flood-damaged property. What measures and assurances then can the Welsh Government initiate to make sure that the civic effort does not negatively affect the recycling targets and measures that Caerphilly County Borough Council will be judged by, and how does the Welsh Labour Government envisage that the 'Beyond Recycling' strategy will make the circular economy a progressive reality in Islwyn and across Wales?

I thank the Member for those supplementary questions. Llywydd, can I begin by paying tribute to the efforts of Caerphilly County Borough Council, as other local authorities in Wales, in responding to the impact of flooding on their local residents? I'm aware of the point that local authorities have raised—those many local authorities that have provided immediate relief to householders, providing skips free of charge, without the need for permits and so on, and the anxiety that that may have an impact on their recycling rates. I want to give those local authorities an assurance this afternoon that they will not be penalised for having done the right thing; that where costs have been involved, they will be able to reclaim those costs from the Welsh Government, through the emergency financial assistance scheme, and, reputationally, where local authorities are anxious that it will look as though their recycling rates have fallen, we are working with NRW to be able to record the impact of flood-affected waste in a different way, so that that reputational damage can be mitigated. 

As to the action that we can take through the circular economy, Llywydd, there are a series of actions in the plan that is currently being consulted upon. My colleague Hannah Blythyn, right across Wales, is carrying out meetings with members of the public and organisations with an interest in this. Here are just three ways in which we will assist the residents of Islwyn in the efforts they already make to maximise recycling: we're going to provide new infrastructure, so that material that currently can't be recycled will be able to be recycled in the future; we're going to put a new focus on the recycling of electrical and electronic equipment, which currently can be difficult to collect and difficult to recycle—the circular economy plan puts a new emphasis on that; and we are going to make sure that businesses in Wales are treated in the same way as householders are, so that commercial, industrial and construction waste separated by those businesses can be recycled in the way that household waste can be recycled, and further boost the reputation that Wales already has as the leading recycle nation in the United Kingdom, the second in Europe, and third across the whole world. 

Thank you, First Minister.