The government will consider proposals today that could see the banning of food waste from landfills. Hilary Benn, Environment Secretary, is behind a campaign to prevent various types of rubbish from being sent to landfill when they could be used for composting or recycling.
The Environment Department (Defra) along with the Welsh Assembly are also currently investigating options for restrictions upon paper, card, food, metals, woods, garden waste, plastics, and electrical waste from ending up in landfills when they can be recycled or reused in the ground.
In support of the campaign, Benn will be visiting Bywaters Materials Recovery Facility located in Bow to look conduct a consultation aimed at reducing types and number of waste being sent to landfill. Benn added that he does not believe it is productive or necessary for leftover food to go to landfill when it can be composted for fertilizer or energy use.
Many of these campaigns are being implemented in the UK in the wake of new regulations being implemented by the European Commission. New targets will see countries in Europe expected to recycle at least 50 percent of biodegradable waste by 2013,
In response many communities have begun establishing incentive schemes to get households to begin recycling more, but these have met with some backlash from pro-privacy groups. Bristol City Council’s ‘pay-as-you-throw’ scheme is one of the most controversial, and could see households fined for not recycling enough.
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