The UK’s trade body for anaerobic digestion (AD) has joined a coalition of over 40 trade bodies, campaign groups, businesses, and local authorities that has called on government to “fast-track” the rollout of separate food waste collections across England.
Members of the coalition (listed in full below) have signed a joint statement that has been presented to government calling for the move, which would allow inedible food waste to be separated from other waste streams and recycled through AD and composting into renewable energy and natural fertiliser.
It is hoped that the policy of universal food waste collections will be included in the government’s forthcoming Resources & Waste Strategy, which is due to be published by the end of the month.
Only around a third of households in England currently have food waste collections, whereas the devolved governments in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland have all made separate collections mandatory. Environment Secretary Michael Gove said in October that he would “like to see” a national separate food waste collection scheme.
Charlotte Morton, ADBA – “Separate food waste collections are vital in helping to make people more aware of how much edible food they are wasting and in ensuring that any inedible food waste can be recycled through AD into renewable energy and natural fertiliser rather than being left to rot in landfill or wasted in incineration”
Charlotte Morton, Chief Executive of the Anaerobic Digestion & Bioresources Association (ADBA), who wrote to Mr Gove this week to state ADBA’s commitment to the statement, said: “Separate food waste collections are vital in helping to make people more aware of how much edible food they are wasting and in ensuring that any inedible food waste can be recycled through AD into renewable energy and natural fertiliser rather than being left to rot in landfill or wasted in incineration.
“Fully recycling food waste is vital to allowing the UK to meet its climate-change commitments as well as restoring our soils, managing our wastes, and decarbonising our energy supply.
“ADBA was proud to sign this statement alongside a range of organisations and businesses who share our vision of a society where resources are put to best use and waste is minimised. The devolved nations have shown that separate food waste collections work, and the Committee on Climate Change and National Infrastructure Commission have both called for this policy to be implemented in England – what we now need is the political will to make this happen.”
Responding to a speech made yesterday by Environment Secretary Michael Gove, in which he stated that he has made it a “particular priority” of Defra to “end the environmental, economic, and moral scandal of food waste”, Charlotte Morton said: “What we now need in the government’s forthcoming Resources & Waste Strategy is a clear commitment to rolling out food waste collections across the whole of the UK along with the requisite funding to ensure that cash-strapped local authorities have the resources to implement this solution.
“Anything less will make it impossible for Mr Gove to meet his commitment to end the scandal of food waste.”
The full list of signatories:
- ADBA
- Absolute Management and Marketing
- A Plastic Planet
- Air Liquide UK
- Aquapak Ltd
- BASF Germany
- Biobag Ltd
- Biome Biotechnologies
- Bio-Based & Biodegradable Industries Association
- Celanese Ltd
- Charlie Trousdell Associates
- Compost Bag Company, Belgium
- Confederation of Paper Industries
- Cromwell Polythene
- Earth Friendly Foodware Ltd
- Ecosurety Ltd
- Ernest R. Shaw Ltd
- Final Straw Cornwall Ltd
- Floreon
- Fuchs Lubricants
- Futamura Ltd
- Greenlane Biogas Ltd
- Greenpeace UK
- Iceland Food Ltd
- KCC Packaging Ltd
- Lutra Ltd
- Natureworks LLC
- NNFCC
- Novamont Plc Italy
- Oceanium Ltd
- Rapid Action Packaging UK Ltd
- Renewable Energy Association
- Resource Association
- Severn Trent Green Power
- South Lakeland Council
- Sphere Group
- Sustainable Soils Alliance
- Tipa Israel
- Vegware Ltd
- Waste Aid
- Wigan Council
- World Biogas Association
- Councillors of Stroud District Council: Doina Cornell (Leader) & Paul Denney (Environment Committee)