Greenpeace briefing

Publication date: May 2002

Summary
The entire waste management industry is currently in a state of virtual paralysis with regard to composting.

The Department of the Environment says that composting of municipal organic waste is "a vital component of meeting Waste Strategy targets" and that "The Government supports the composting of waste". (DEFRA Briefing note on compost June 2001). Yet it's regulatory body, the Environment Agency, will not currently permit compost derived from kitchen waste to be used in the open and has made it virtually impossible for new composting initiatives to gain a licence.

As a consequence local authorities and waste companies are turning to incineration to get organic waste out of landfill sites. This is totally nonsensical. Incinerators release many chemicals with potentially severe health impacts in stack gases and in ashes. Food waste, mixed with all manner of other materials is dumped in huge bunkers where it can remain rotting for days. Kitchen waste is a very poor material to burn - it is very wet and has a low calorific value. The organic material should be going back into the soil where it can return nutrients, carbon and improve soil texture. Compost has a high environmental value. It also has a potentially high economic value, but not until the Government sorts out the mess it has made.

A Better way

Publication date: September 2001

Summary
Some local authorities are arguing that incineration is necessary to meet the UK's commitments under the European Landfill Directive. This position is indefensible. In order to meet the landfill directive targets we need do no more than recycle and/or compost 30% of household newspaper, card and green waste by 2010. This target and the targets for 2013 and 2020 that follow can easily be met and exceeded with technology currently available and in use in other parts of the world. Cities and regions around the world have already achieved much more than this.

Currently operating, state of the art screening and composting systems, can achieve similar reductions in the volume of solid waste to those achieved by incinerators. At the same time they can eliminate the pollution problems associated with incinerators, and provide a useful, sometimes marketable product. ...