Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department will make an economic and environmental impact assessment on the alternatives to peat-free growing media.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

This question has been interpreted as whether Defra will make an economic and environmental impact assessment on peat-free alternatives in growing media.

This Government is committed to protecting our nature-rich habitats, including peat bogs and to this end, the Government has pledged to legislate for a ban on the sale of peat and peat-containing products when Parliamentary time allows. This commitment is embedded within our Carbon Budget planning and, most recently, reflected in the current version of the Environmental Improvement Plan. Whilst an Impact Assessment (IA) was prepared in support of the previous Government’s consultation on ending the sale of peat and peat containing products, IA procedures have changed and this Government would be required to carry out a new IA as part of any legislative process for a ban to end the sale of peat.

Using the Responsible Sourcing Scheme for Growing Media methodology to assess the environmental impact of different types of growing media, it has been shown that whilst all materials have an environmental impact, for the most part, this is lower in peat-alternatives.