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Ten years ago, Italy passed a world first law to oblige local authorities and operators to collect household and business food waste “either with no packaging or if packaging is used this must be certified compostable according to the standard EN13432”.
The law was passed upon request of the Italian composting and biogas industries that were unable to handle the increasing levels of plastic contamination arriving with rising volumes of food waste. Food and garden waste collections for composting and anaerobic digestion (AD) rose from 300,000 tonnes in 2000 to over six million tonnes today.
According to the EA, over 100,000 of microplastics are deposited to soil from compost, digestate and sewage sludge due to plastics entering the treatment system as inputs.
As the Environment Agency discusses with local authorities, waste operators and the AD and composting industry in England issues related to reducing plastic waste both in inputs arriving at plants and in outputs going to soil, we look at the decade of Italian experience and try to understand what learnings we can take from it and what specific challenges the UK has to overcome. We will also look into the cost/benefits of such a system.
We will hear from examples of other EU countries that have opted for the same Italian model whilst speakers from England will illustrate their options, opportunities and challenges in facing the threat of being overwhelmed by plastic waste. Household and business food waste collections are set to become obligatory after 2023 and one of the most pressing issues is how to ensure this has beneficial rather than negative impacts on the industry and soil quality.
Speakers include
Chair: David Newman, Managing Director BBIA
Marco Ricci, Technical Expert at the Italian Compost and Biogas Association (CIC) / Chair of the International Solid Waste Association Working Group on Biowaste.
Marco will talk about the Italian system as well as examples of high-quality food waste collections schemes from around Europe.
Susanne Lindeneg, Technical Advisor for waste issues at the City of Copenhagen Council
Teresa Guerrero, Head of Separate Collection Promotion, Circular Economy Area, Waste Agency of Catalonia
Kathy Nichols, Senior Advisor, Environment Agency
Rebecca Thompson, Senior Policy Manager at the Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association (ADBA)
Jenny Grant, Organics Recycling and Biogas Groups Manager – Scotland, the Association for Renewable Energy and Clean Technology (REA)
PARTICIPATION IS FREE. REGISTER HERE.