To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs to outline the work his Department is undertaking to tackle plastic pollution.

Mr Muir

I have ambitious goals to protect our environment from plastic pollution, reduce unnecessary waste and promote sustainability. My Department has already taken action with the introduction of legislation to ban single-use vapes and wet wipes containing plastic. My Department is leading on work to bring forward the plastic pollution plan for Northern Ireland. It is an overarching document with the aim of addressing and tackling the problem of plastic pollution in Northern Ireland. The plan will set the course for Northern Ireland to be part of the plastic solution and become a leader in driving the necessary change. A public consultation ran from 2 July 2025 for 12 weeks, with responses from citizens and businesses. Feedback received will be incorporated into the final plan. The plan will collate the targets incorporated in existing policies and strategies and identify actions that will contribute to eliminating unnecessary plastic in Northern Ireland. My officials are working to bring forward regulations to transpose the EU single-use plastics directive into Northern Ireland domestic law, which will remove more commonly littered and unnecessary single-use plastic items from circulation. The primary objective of the single-use plastics directive is to protect our environment. Single-use plastic products are a wasteful use of resources, being used only once before being discarded, impacting on our marine and natural environment. The introduction of those regulations will reduce the volume and impact of plastic products on our environment. Work also continues on the introduction of a deposit return scheme (DRS) for single-use drinks containers, which will launch in Northern Ireland in October 2027.

Mr Muir

Thank you, Connie. The carrier bag levy is an example of behavioural change bringing about a positive impact for our environment, with the most recent statistics showing a decrease of almost 6 million bags per annum over a two-year period. The revenue raised helps to support the environment fund. It has delivered a number of projects including Eco-Schools, which engage with young people to further influence positive behaviours and enhance their appreciation of our environment. Both you and I have enjoyed meeting those Eco-Schools. Similarly, the levy also directly funds the Lyric Theatre's eco-project, 'Waste Busters' the musical, which is currently touring schools across all council areas in Northern Ireland, educating and encouraging efforts to protect our resources. I will be attending a production of that in the next few weeks.

Miss McIlveen

Given that plastic makes up 15% to 20% of a nappy, I ask the Minister, further to my debate in January last year, whether he will provide an update on how he is going to divert nappies and absorbent hygiene products away from residual waste and ensure that valuable, recyclable material is extracted and reused?

Mr Muir

That is an important issue, and it is important that councils do all that they can to find a way to reduce the amount of waste that is going to landfill or for incineration. While my officials have been engaging on the matter, one of the key issues is the role that councils can play. Councils have an additional amount of approximately £50 million in extended producer responsibility for packaging money that they can use to improve their ways to recycle. One of the ways in which to improve recycling and reduce waste management is through what the Member has outlined. Officials will continue to engage, but, ultimately, it is for councils to take that forward. It would be good if I could publish the previous departmental response, which set out the proposed way forward.

Mr Carroll

Does the Minister agree that a better approach to tackling plastic pollution is to prevent it from being produced and appearing on shop shelves in the first place? It is ridiculous: you go to a shop to buy bananas, and they are covered in plastic. That is absurd. Will the Minister outline what work he is doing to compel or encourage producers and suppliers to stop using plastic, especially single-use plastics?

Mr Muir

My answer is yes. There is a waste hierarchy, and part of that is about reducing the amount of waste that we produce. There is the extended producer responsibility for packaging scheme: that is being brought in across the UK and will, hopefully, incentivise a reduction in the amount of packaging. Furthermore, a scheme is coming into place in October next year. It has been in place down South since February 2024. It is the deposit return scheme, which will encourage people to bring back their bottles, and they will get money for that. It has proven to be very popular down South and in other parts of Europe. I believe that it will be popular here in the North as well. There is lots that we are doing around this. However, there is more that we should do, because we want to make sure that we are not missing the opportunities from the circular economy.

Mr Durkan

I thank the Minister for his reference to the success of the deposit return scheme in the South. We are due to see it in October next year. What conversations has the Minister had with his counterpart in the South about how the scheme that we will implement here can harmonise with theirs?

Mr Muir

I have spoken briefly to my counterpart in the South about that. There is a desire from the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and me to go down South to see the scheme in operation there. One of the key focuses of the deposit return scheme in the UK is that it has to be interoperable with that in the South, which is a key thing that I have been advocating, and I believe that it will be. To be honest, what we have seen in the South is a role model for how we can take forward the scheme in the UK, including Northern Ireland. Staff from the scheme in the South came across to the DRS in the UK and have brought their knowledge with them. It is disappointing that the scheme has not been put in place in the UK sooner, but that is a result of the antics of the previous UK Government on the issue. The new Government, however, are committed to the scheme, and we are rolling it out. It was good to see the operator of the deposit return scheme at an event last week with Retail NI, engaging with local retailers on the issue.

Mr Gaston

Minister, it is good to hear that you are making progress on tackling plastic pollution. Will you take the opportunity to update the House and enlighten us on what progress you are making on reducing the amount of raw sewage that is currently going into our waterways? I know that that issue does not sit with you, but, given that farmers are always being used as a scapegoat for the actions of Northern Ireland Water (NIW), I am interested to know what progress you have made on reducing the 7 million tons of untreated sewage that goes into our waterways each year.

Mr Speaker

I am not sure what plastic has to do with sewage, but I will leave it in your hands, Minister.

Mr Muir

Plastic and sewage are a bit different, but I am happy to answer the Member's question. What sits with me is regulation and enforcement. A paper will go to the Executive in the next few weeks on how to address the bye ball that NI Water has been given since 2007, when it was unfairly given a special dispensation that other polluters do not have. That needs to be addressed. There is other work in place, which I will outline to the Chamber in the time ahead. The ultimate responsibility for investment in waste water infrastructure and its management sits with the Minister for Infrastructure. We need to be brave and address the issues, because I am acutely aware that not only are they causing harm to our environment but they are affecting housebuilding and economic development in Northern Ireland. Alongside that, we are doing work on plastic pollution, because its wider environmental impact needs to be addressed.