The UK government should make food waste collections obligatory in order to allow more compostable packaging to be recycled, according to an industry trade body.
Responding to this week’s Footprint’s investigation that showed compostable straws were not actually being composted, David Newman, managing director of the Bio-based and Biodegradable Industries Association (BBIA), said a nationwide collection system is needed to get materials to plants cleanly, regularly and in volumes that ensure a critical mass is acquired to enable the process to function.
“Food waste collections cover less than half the UK population and are often of very poor quality and full of plastic contamination,” said Newman. “The real challenge is in making food waste collections ubiquitous, high quality and regular; then compostable packaging would have a route back to recycling and enable our society to reduce plastic waste and increase the amount of wasted food we return to soil as compost.”