7 Composting
80. Biodegradable waste is a priority for reduction
since it is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions when
it is landfilled. Composting and Anaerobic Digestion (AD) are
the main options for managing this waste and witnesses considered
that both have an important role in preventing biodegradable waste
from being sent to landfill sites. However, the EA believed that
"we need to ensure these activities are located, operated
and regulated in a way that minimises the impact on the environment
and local amenity".[132]
We discuss AD further below in relation to energy from waste.
81. Although composting rates are increasing,
barriers remain to making faster progress, including uncertainty
over the suitability of some compost outputs for uses such as
land spreading since they might contain contaminants.[133]
CIWM noted that composting is a relatively "low capital and
revenue cost treatment for a broad range of organic waste from
all sectors" but considered that the Government "must
ensure that standards developed to protect soil quality and animal
health are maintained and adequate to satisfy market requirements".[134]
We welcome the work by Defra
and the Environment Agency to develop quality protocols on compost
products.
82. Household composting rates have risen significantly,
from under 2% in 1997-98 to nearly 15% in 2008-09 but composting
remains a minority activity.[135]
Such rises that have occurred have been assisted by education
and support programmes. The reduction of funding for home composting
schemes could jeopardise this progress and we consider that continued
programmes are needed to make information and low cost equipment
available, including systems for composting food waste at home
or locally. The ESA said that whilst initial uptake of schemes
can be high, "without consistent promotion and support, participation
levels fall".[136]
Regulation requiring community level schemes to meet environmental
permitting conditions and the application of business rates to
non-residential premises, including those used for composting,
are further barriers to increased local composting. Many councils
are now collecting household food waste separately from residual
waste, for use in facilities such as anaerobic digestion plant.
We recommend that Defra undertake
an analysis of the trade-offs between the use of food waste in
anaerobic digestion and composting to determine the optimal method
of food waste disposal.
83. Although there is a significant
proportion of homes that are unable to compost, home composting
(including of all food waste using systems such as bokashi, green
cone and jora) has considerable potential for reducing residual
waste sent to landfill and for making refuse collection more hygienic
and thus reducing problems of hygiene and odour associated with
alternate weekly waste collections.
84. Local composting of food
waste from institutions such as schools and hospitals and groups
of restaurants (including those in Parliament) should also be
encouraged using similar systems. Not only would this reduce collection
costs and the negative environmental effects of transportation
but the resulting compost is also a valuable resource for household
and community use (for example in local food production). However,
we also support separate collection of household and other food
waste, particularly where home composting is not feasible. We
recommend that the Government sets a target for mandatory collection
of food waste, learning lessons from those authorities already
operating such schemes in which food waste is put to beneficial
use such as in an anaerobic digestion plant. To maximise the beneficial
use of food and garden waste advice, education and practical support
should be made available by local authorities. Such support should
include securing discounts or providing subsidies for composting
equipment, taking into account the outcome of Defra's analysis
of the optimal method of food waste disposal.
132 Ev 3 Back
133
"EA calls for tougher biowaste regulations", Let's recycle.com,
10 April 2008. Back
134
Ev 23 Back
135
Defra, The environment in your pocket 2009. Back
136
Ev 63 Back
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