The number of disposable plastic lined cups purchased by the Welsh Assembly has increased by almost 20 percent in the last 5 years according to figures obtained by ITV Wales.

It comes as a letter is written to the Presiding Officer by the Welsh Conservatives calling for the Assembly to phase out the use of plastics.

A Freedom of Information request to the Assembly found:

• 116,150 plastic lined disposable drinking cups were purchased by the Assembly in the financial year 2013/14
• By 2017/18 that had risen to 139,050.
• In total 619,800 cups had been purchased by the Assembly over the last 5 financial years.

In his open letter David Melding the Welsh Conservative Environment spokesperson called for the phasing out of single-use plastics across the Assembly estate.

The Welsh Assembly says it will look to stop using plastic cups as soon as possible but stresses most of the waste generated at its sites is recycled,

The Assembly Commission made the decision to cease using single-use coffee cups more than five years ago. We are currently working with our catering supplier to identify compostable or recyclable drinking water cups to replace the single use plastic cups used currently and will switch to these alternatives as soon as practicable. Our use of plastic straws is already very low and we anticipate that this is likely to continue but we will shortly be changing to paper straws. The Assembly Commission sends no waste to landfill with all refuse either sent to recycling or recovery facilities. Currently the National Assembly recycles between 80-90 per cent of its waste.

– ASSEMBLY SPOKESPERSON

Note: This is an ITV News story available at