In
accordance with the Notice of Motion received under Section 4.20 of the
Constitution, Councillor Elin Walker Jones will propose as follows:-
“This Council notes that:
·
Plastics pollution is a huge
environmental problem that is endangering marine life.
·
12.7 million tonnes of plastic end
up in our oceans each year. This is the
equivalent of a truck load of rubbish a minute.
·
Plastic debris causes the deaths of
more than a million seabirds every year, as well as more than 100,000 marine
mammals, according to UNESCO.
·
Plastic waste is a blight on Wales’s
beautiful landscape, beaches and seas.
The Council further notes that:
·
Wales’s pioneering implementation of
a charge on single use carrier bags (SUCBs) led to a decline of 71% in the use
of SUCBs within the first three years of the scheme.
·
International environmental
organisations such as Greenpeace have recently called on the Welsh Government
to take steps to charge a levy on plastic waste such as coffee cups, which
cannot be recycled.
·
The National Assembly for Wales has
recently voted in favour of a Plaid Cymru amendment
to back plans for a levy on single use plastics in Wales.
This Council calls on the Welsh Government:
To act as a matter of urgency to implement a
levy on single-use plastics in Wales as well as considering to raise a levy on
all plastics to help ensure that Welsh seas are clean, healthy, safe,
productive and biologically diverse.”
Minutes:
The following notice of motion was submitted by Councillor Elin Walker
Jones, in accordance with Section 4.20 of the Constitution and it was seconded.
"This Council
notes that:
·
Plastic pollution is an enormous
environmental problem which endangers marine life.
·
12.7 million tonnes of plastic goes
into our seas each year. This equates to a truck full of waste every minute.
·
Pieces of plastic cause the death of
a million sea birds and 100,000 aquatic mammals, according to UNESCO.
·
Plastic waste is a plague on the
beautiful landscape, beaches and seas of Wales.
The Council further notes that:
·
Wales' innovative action to charge a
fee on single-use bags has led to a 71% reduction in the use of single-use bags
within the first three years of the scheme.
·
International environmental
organisations such as Greenpeace had recently called on Welsh Government to
take steps to charge a toll on plastic waste such as coffee cups that cannot be
recycled.
·
The Assembly has recently voted in
favour of Plaid Cymru's amendment to support schemes
to charge a toll on single-use plastics in Wales.
The Council calls on Welsh Government:
To take urgent action to implement a
toll on single-use plastics in Wales and also to consider charging a toll on
all plastics to ensure that the seas of Wales are healthy, safe, productive and
biodiverse."
Strong support was expressed to the proposal from many members, and it
was proposed to add the following wording to the original proposal:
"That we carry
out an investigation into Gwynedd Council's use of single-use plastic in order
to assess how and where we can reduce this use with the aim of becoming a
plastic free council."
The proposer of the
original proposal agreed to amend the proposal on these grounds with the
Council’s consent.
Keep Wales Tidy was
thanked for organising a session to tidy up the Hell's Mouth Beach recently.
RESOLVED
This Council notes that:
·
Plastic pollution is an enormous
environmental problem which endangers marine life.
·
12.7 million tonnes of plastic goes
into our seas each year. This equates to
a truck full of waste every minute.
·
Pieces of plastic cause the death of
a million sea birds and 100,000 aquatic mammals, according to UNESCO.
·
Plastic waste is a plague on the
beautiful landscape, beaches and seas of Wales.
The Council further notes that:
·
Wales' innovative action to charge a
fee on single-use bags has led to a 71% reduction in the use of single-use bags
within the first three years of the scheme.
·
International environmental
organisations such as Greenpeace had recently called on Welsh Government to
take steps to charge a toll on plastic waste such as coffee cups that cannot be
recycled.
·
The Assembly has recently voted in
favour of Plaid Cymru's amendment to support schemes
to charge a toll on single-use plastics in Wales.
This Council calls on Welsh Government:
To take urgent action to implement a
toll on single-use plastics in Wales and also to consider charging a toll on
all plastics to ensure that the seas of Wales are healthy, safe, productive and
biodiverse.
That we carry out an
investigation into Gwynedd Council's use of single-use plastic in order to
assess how and where we can reduce this use with the aim of becoming a plastic
free council.