Waste and Plastic

Plaid believe that by 2030, zero waste should go to landfill and there should be an end to all waste incineration. Any products that cannot be reused, repaired, refilled, recirculated or recycled should be designed out of the system. We would tackle the issue of plastic waste by immediately banning non-essential single-use plastics in 2021, including plastic bags, straws, cutlery, Styrofoam and nonbiodegradable wet-wipes.

As a stepping stone we would increase the statutory target for recycling of municipal waste to 80 per cent by 2026, adding more materials to the list of those that can be recycled, and setting new ambitious targets for commercial and industrial waste. We would introduce binding targets to halve food waste from farm to fork by 2030.

Recycling targets will be incentivised through a challenge fund for zero waste communities for towns, cities, villages and valleys that want to be pioneers in the journey to a circular economy.

We would legislate to make companies that produce packaging financially responsible for their environmental impact and create a Deposit Return Scheme for bottles and cans, whilst we would introduce a levy on all single-use cups filled at the point of sale, payable by the consumer, in order to prevent waste and encourage the uptake of reusable alternatives.