Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:27 pm on 5 July 2022.
Llywydd, I thank Joel James for that further question. He is right that the programme did help to deliver a network of five anaerobic digestion plants as well as two energy-recovery facilities in north and south Wales, and although the programme itself has come to an end, that doesn't mean that we are no longer providing funding support to local authorities and their partners, particularly, for example, with the circular economy fund, so that work can continue to make sure that we're doing everything we can to recycle waste in a way that delivers the benefits that Joel James has suggested. To give one example, Llywydd, we are currently working with the Vale of Glamorgan to provide £10 million to support infrastructure in that local authority to improve recycling performance, to further decarbonise waste and recycling services. And anaerobic digestion continues to play its part in the repertoire of actions we are able to take, and it does come, as the Member says, with a set of further advantages in its production of fertiliser by-products that can then be further used to assist at a time when fertiliser prices around the globe are at an all-time high.