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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the positive findings of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs research <i>Digestate and Compost in Agriculture</i>, what action they are taking to increase the volume of food waste going to anaerobic digesters rather than to incinerators.

It is wrong for good surplus food to go to waste when it could go to people. For food waste which is unavoidable and inedible, anaerobic digestion is the most environmentally beneficial means of dealing with it.

The Waste Framework Directive sets out a priority order for waste treatment: the waste hierarchy. We have departed from the waste hierarchy to place anaerobic digestion above – rather than on a par with – composting and other energy recovery technologies for the treatment of food and garden wastes. We explain this position in our “Guidance on applying the waste hierarchy”. While local authorities are best placed to determine local collection arrangements, they must have regard to this guidance.

The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) has recently published guidance to local authorities on how to introduce or improve the effectiveness of food waste collection systems. WRAP is also looking at whether greater consistency in how waste is collected has the potential to improve recycling rates.

The “Food Waste Recycling Action Plan”, soon to be published by WRAP, aims to bring together industry and local authorities to increase the supply and quality of household and commercial food waste to the food waste recycling industry.