3. What action is the Welsh Government taking to protect the environment in north Wales? OQ61355

Tackling the climate and nature emergencies is a crucial task for this Government, today and for future generations. I'll give the Member just three examples of actions that we are taking or have taken: our significant recycling improvement, now the second best in the world, means that we save 400,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year; we're taking action on rivers to help reduce pollution, and there's more to go; and we will introduce a landmark Bill later this Senedd term to help restore nature, improve biodiversity, and take tougher sanctions for environmental pollution.

First Minister, one of the things that isn't helping the environment in north Wales is the appalling situation faced by people in Denbighshire. As you will be aware, the Labour-led Denbighshire County Council has overseen an utterly shambolic roll-out of a new recycling system at a cost of millions for taxpayers, which for some residents has seen their waste go uncollected for up to five weeks. It's leading, frankly, to a summer of discontent in Denbighshire, with festering rubbish building up on local streets, some of which now, I'm afraid, are reminiscent of Labour-run Britain in the 1970s. This is totally unacceptable, it's leading to pests like rodents and seagulls having a field day. The previous blue bin recycling system in Denbighshire worked very well, it had excellent satisfaction ratings and achieved some of the highest recycling rates in Wales, above those achieved by the new recycling system in other neighbouring counties. So, will you look again at your Welsh Labour Government's recycling guidance in Wales and promote simpler recycling systems, like the blue bin system, which work and make life easy for local residents? Thank you.

One of our significant success stories for the period of devolution is the significant amount of improvement made in recycling. I talked earlier about the fact that, at the cusp of devolution, 95 per cent of our waste went to landfill. That's a wholly unsustainable system. I'm proud of what has been done by successive Governments here in Wales, but also by successive administrations in local government across Wales of different political leaderships. It's that long-term partnership that has delivered the significant improvement that now means we're the second best recycling nation in the world.

To further improve, as we still need to, we do need to make sure that we have further improvements in recycling. That means less mingling of waste in kerbside collections. It does mean new systems and new ways of collecting that waste. When you look at what Labour-run Denbighshire are now doing, they're being honest and listening to what people are saying about some of the challenges in the system. They recognise there are improvements to be made in the fleet and in the IT systems to get to a place where we do make another step of improvement in what is taking place. That has to be done in a grown-up way across the Chamber, in Denbighshire, and in every local authority across the country.

I believe we can be proud of what we've already done in our past, and prouder still of the next stage of the journey, because it isn't just about recycling, it's also about the improvement it will make to our economy. Higher quality recyclate means more of that going back into reuse and recycle, more businesses that want to found themselves in Wales because of what we are doing, and that will matter to residents in Denbighshire, just as it will to the rest of the country.

I've been corresponding with Denbighshire council and I'm aware that they did everything that they could to help the situation, and they do apologise for the distress and inconvenience caused to their residents. Once they have caught up and change has been embedded in the residents, it will be all settled.

I used to be Cabinet member for waste and recycling at Flintshire and I'm aware that collecting from thousands of properties—40,000 in Denbighshire—is finely balanced, and if there's any disruption or change, such as a round review, a vehicle breakdown or any change in collection, such as at Christmas, it can be problematic. It's a major step up for kerbside sorting to happen. And the material collected, as you say, will be better quality, so it can be better from the market and for recycling. Co-mingled actually adds another process, which Denbighshire council are paying for, and it costs them a lot of money to go through that system, so it will be improved once everything's settled. I know in England that recycling rates are at just 41 per cent, and going down—decreasing—and, in Liverpool, it's just 17 per cent. It's really poor.

I heard last week that there will be a seminar in Cardiff, where other countries and businesses who use this recyclate, who've moved to Wales, because it's bringing business here—. There will be a seminar in October, so I was wondering if you could tell me a little bit more about that, because we are second best, working in partnership—Welsh Government, local authorities and residents—leading the way. Thank you.

Thank you. And I think there are two points to make. The first is that when you introduce a new system, it's always possible there'll be challenges, and, of course, you've had direct experience of it at the sharp end as a Cabinet member, when looking to deal with some of these challenges and problems from local ward members and, indeed, local residents. And so, what I understand Denbighshire has been doing is not just looking at what's happened with the system that's been introduced, but they've been looking to bring in additional vehicles and staff, making sure that there are more crews out on Saturdays, and to ensure they can move staff around within the council to address the challenges they know exist. And that's one of the things that most people ask for. If something's going wrong, acknowledge there's a problem and deal with it. Listen to the problem and then act on it, and that is exactly what Denbighshire are doing. 

I'm pleased you pointed out the differential rates of recycling—40-odd per cent in England, compared to 65 per cent here in Wales. Our target is to get above 70 per cent, and I believe we can do it. And that comes on to my second point about the event this October. This is a partnership between different Welsh Governments and different local governments over a significant period of time. A long-term objective that is a definite success story. And I do want to pay tribute to the fact that there have been different political leaderships who have done this within local government and bought in to a plan that has delivered real gains. That's why the rest of the world are interested in what we are doing in Wales, and the event in October will bring other voices from around the world to look at how we've done it, the challenges in getting to where we have got, and also the fact that, across local government, there's now a continued interest in how we take the next step forward. And that partnership between the Welsh Government and local government is a real benefit for local citizens, a real benefit for the planet and, as you pointed out, a real benefit for our economy too.