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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the capacity of anaerobic digestion facilities, in the context of the planned introduction of mandatory food waste collections in 2026-27.

The Government’s preference is for unavoidable food waste to be collected for treatment by anaerobic digestion (AD): producing bio-gas and digestate.

Defra has been working with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) and the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) to estimate AD capacity in England. Based on current estimates, there will be sufficient AD capacity in England to treat the increased tonnage of food waste expected to be collected once Simpler Recycling’s mandatory food waste collection requirements commence between 2025-2027. Defra intends to publish a Recycling Infrastructure Capacity Analysis soon. This will set out anticipated waste volumes to 2035, mapping this modelling against known waste management infrastructure for various waste streams, including food waste. The analysis will signal where there is likely over or under-provision of waste management capacity.

DESNZ’s Green Gas Support Scheme (GGSS) provides tariff-support for biomethane produced via AD and injected into the gas grid, supporting investment in AD plants. Under the GGSS, at least 50% of all biomethane by energy content must be produced using waste or residue feedstock. In England, we expect that food waste collected due to Simpler Recycling reforms will constitute a significant portion of AD feedstocks.