The Welsh Government has announced plans to reduce the amount of disposable plastic in Wales.
They include £15 million for Welsh councils to improve their recycling infrastructure and a push to increase the availability of drinking water in public places.
Welsh Environment Minister Hannah Blythyn AM is set to meet her counterparts from the UK and Scottish Governments to discuss a UK-wide deposit return scheme (DRS) for drinks containers.
Ms Blythyn said: “Wales is a world leader in recycling. We are the best in the UK, second in Europe and third in the world. I am keen to build on this success.”
She added: “I am also considering making changes to regulations so that producers and retailers pay a larger share of waste management costs.
“We continue to work with HM Treasury on a UK single-use plastics tax. At the same time we will continue to consider a tax, levy or charge on single-use beverage cups for Wales.
“The mandatory use of reusable cups and a potential pilot is also something I am considering.
“We were the first in the UK to bring in a plastic carrier bag charge.
“We can lead the way once again and make Wales the first in the world when it comes to recycling.”
Manufacturers must play a bigger part in the recycling scheme and hopefully less use of plastics will result in less discarded litter
Plastics are not the evil they are currently being made out to be, plastic has revolutionised our way of life and made things much more convenient, affordable and safe. If we were to get rid the world of plastic today, the loss of the primary form of food packaging would make hundreds of thousands of people sick and millions would be starving or dead within the year.
Supermarkets and industry need to take a bigger part in Recycling. Items are over packed in plastic that’s not needed. When I was younger we had glass bottle, which we returned in exchange for money. We had milk delivered in glass bottles by the milk man. As usual we need to go back in order to go forward. However we do it , we must do it now to save the planet.
I still have my milk delivered in a reusable glass bottle. What has struck me is that plastic is still taking the place of glass. I’m thinking in particular of sauces here. Only five years ago nearly all sauce and ketchup was sold in glass – now plastic is the norm.
Im going back to delievery by a milk man, everylittle helps as they say