Diolch, Llywydd. In moving this legislative proposal, I would like to thank my north Wales colleague Llyr Gruffydd for supporting this.

Last year, Sir David Attenborough described plastic pollution as an unfolding catastrophe. He, of course, is quite right, as we can and should be doing more to avert the problem facing us. It is estimated that, currently, only 77 per cent of glass bottles, 66 per cent of aluminium cans and 65 per cent of plastic drink bottles are recycled. In fact, littering is a Wales-wide menace. Between July 2019 and June 2020, there were 1,034 instances of fly-tipping across Monmouthshire, 2,281 across Caerphilly and 2,816 across Rhondda Cynon Taf.

Plastic is the major material in our pollution problem. Bottle caps and lids are now within the top five items found on Welsh beaches, and analysis of the litter pick I held quite recently with the Marine Conservation Society found that 55.9 per cent of the items picked were made of either plastic or polystyrene. The vast majority, of course, were bottles and on-the-go food items. We can tackle this by introducing a deposit-return scheme. Many of the Members here have discussed this and said they've wanted this along the way, but here we are now still talking about it and still wanting it.

In fact, Scotland is leading the way, as a DRS will be introduced there from 1 July 2022. And I know that Welsh Labour are interested, because a DRS formed part of the consultation on 'Beyond Recycling', which did highlight some concerns such as alleged ineffective applicability in Wales, the potential carbon footprint from establishing a DRS, and impacts on our local authorities reaching recycling targets. But they do not justify any further delay.

This DRS could actually support local authorities in tackling fly-tipping. Scotland's Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee found that the benefits from collection efficiency and reduced costs for disposal of materials outweigh the costs of a DRS on local authorities. And in South Australia, DRS made kerbside recycling more profitable. So, there would be major benefits to our environment. Zero Waste Scotland stated that Scotland's scheme will cut emissions by the equivalent of around 4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide over the next 25 years. Making aluminium cans from old ones uses one twelfth of the energy utilised in production from raw material, 315 kg of carbon dioxide is saved per tonne of glass recycled, and even a Welsh Government survey highlighted that three quarters of adults support the idea of a DRS, and they are right to do so. The scheme could reduce the total amount of litter in Wales by up to a third.

Now, I appreciate the Welsh Government is working on a joint basis with England and Northern Ireland, and that preparations are being made for a second consultation. But do we need another one just to take this DRS forward in Wales, which we've all agreed on previously? Members will know that this item has been a recurring point since 2016—in fact, before—and should note the success of the schemes elsewhere, such as Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Croatia. Iceland had a 90 per cent return rate in 2014; Germany 98 per cent in 2016; and Lithuania, 92 per cent in 2017.

So, my proposal aims to reflect another challenge of our time: personal protective equipment. We needed it, but we've certainly not needed the waste from it. Latex gloves take up to 100 years to biodegrade, yet worldwide, over 80 million gloves are needed by the COVID health response teams each month. There is room for innovation, and Meditech Gloves and Cranfield University have developed a natural latex, which would only take a couple of weeks to biodegrade. TerraCycle regulated waste have created a recycling programme to keep the environment PPE-free, and a Swansea-led team are developing a novel process called photoreforming, which uses sunlight to convert non-recyclable waste into clean hydrogen fuel. 

Now, I do know that the Welsh Government are supportive of the Swansea scheme, but we need to do more to harness such innovation, especially now that we are seeing more gloves, masks and sanitiser bottles decorating our environment. I also share Dŵr Cymru's concerns about the disposal of single use, plastic wet wipes, which contribute to around 2,000 sewer blockages every month. Yes, 2,000 every month. Welsh Government should include wipes in the list of items to be banned. We need decisive action to ensure Wales is zero waste by 2050, and we need legislation that shows that this Parliament responds promptly to public demands and the evolving climate crisis, hence my proposal to establish a duty on the Welsh Government to lay an annual report. 

Llywydd, Senedd Members, I opened by referring to Sir David Attenborough, and will close with his remarks that he said only last year:

'It is high time we turn our attention fully to one of the most pressing problems of today'— and that is—

'averting the plastic pollution crisis, not only for the health of our planet, but for the well-being of people around the world.'

We all now need to act on his calls. And I have shown today that there is more we can and should be doing now in Wales to help avert the current crisis. Thank you. Diolch yn fawr.