The new Labour government has got off to a flying start when it comes to waste and resources policy, but it could be missing a key opportunity for delivering food security and sustainable growth through a circular economy for organic waste.
Action so far includes progress on the Deposit Return Scheme, delivering new incentives to encourage the recycling of packaging, and establishing an expert-led Circular Economy Taskforce. This is underpinned by Environment Secretary Steve Reed’s announcement that one of his top five priorities is moving Britain to a “zero waste economy”.
Tackling the problem of organic waste
As a former Labour shadow minister for waste and recycling, I am heartened by our government’s focus on practical solutions to the problem of unsustainable waste.
However, a comprehensive approach to waste must deal with the huge amount of organic waste, both from food and garden bins, and from agriculture, which we generate as a country. Shockingly, it’s estimated that over 80% of our household food waste is currently effectively ‘lost’ to incineration, landfill, or simply flushed into our sewers.
We know this can be solved, Labour-run Wales has already pioneered an effective approach to household food waste, including being one of the few nations in the world with a universal separate food waste collection for households, which should inspire England to do better.
Thankfully, the government are progressing with plans for millions more tonnes a year of food waste to be collected. Businesses will have to improve their organic collections in 2025, and Local Authorities will have to offer weekly household collections in 2026, as part of the ‘Simpler Recycling’ reforms. Yet what will happen to this material once collected?
In line with the waste hierarchy, government action should firstly aim to redistribute surplus food and reduce the levels of waste entering the system. However, most organic waste will still need to be processed. We need a new approach to treat these materials as a resource to be utilised.
If properly collected, processed and provided at affordable prices, these valuable organic materials could help British farmers and growers deliver more sustainable practices and lessen reliance on imported climate- warming chemical fertilisers which have rocketed in price in recent years (prices are still 50% higher than at the start of 2022). We can also address the harms of soil degradation which in England and Wales has been estimated to cost approximately £1.6 billion a year, with loss of organic matter thought to account for 47% of the total cost, or £740 million.
Further, as the harmful climate impacts of the peat used for growing our food have become clear, the horticultural sector is rightly demanding support for rolling-out more sustainable replacements derived from organic waste.
How government can support this agenda
So how can we deliver a circular economy for organic waste?
During my time as shadow waste minister, I undertook extensive research in this area in the development of the party’s waste policies at the time, including exploring the Italian model of anaerobic digestion plants for food waste. These innovative plants have on-site composting facilities which ensure that, in addition to capturing methane gas from the process, food and other organic materials, including compostable tableware and bags, are broken down into a more nutrient-rich compost.
A new campaign, Enrich the Earth, has been working on developing this agenda. It is a coalition of organisations with partners including SUEZ, the Peat Free Partnership, the Nature Friendly Farming Network, and The Association For Renewable Energy and Clean Technology.
Their proposals include using government’s fiscal and regulatory powers to support access to high quality and affordable compost for farmers and growers; providing a funding boost to cash-strapped local authorities to enhance the quality and quantity of collected material (especially in tackling plastic contamination); and reviewing incentives which currently favour the use of organic materials for energy generation.
Conclusion
The government has declared that “food security is national security”, so taking action to deliver on this agenda must be a top priority for new ministers. It was very welcome to hear the Environment Secretary recently say he was committed to supporting farmers as they “move through a transition that will replenish the soil with organic matter so it can grow more food with less need for expensive and polluting artificial fertilisers”. It’s now vital to work with farmers, growers, waste firms, local authorities, and environmentalists to put meat on the bones of this agenda.
A new approach can also provide a vital pillar of the government’s new circular economy agenda and support public demands to deliver a ban on peat-based products. Alongside action to redistribute surplus food and reduce waste at source, government measures in this area can deliver meaningful progress in enhancing our food security and would represent a clear environmental success story.
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