UK wants more flexibility on food waste disposal
the implementation next year of a directive banning manufacturers
and retailers from disposing food of animal origin in thecountry's
landfills, reports Ahmed ElAmin.
The EU-wide animal by-products directive went into force for allother EU members at the start of this year, but the UK received a concession allowing its industry to continue the practice until 1 January 2006.
Currently all raw meat and fish from industrial waste must be burned in the UK. All other animal food waste may go into landfill.
The UK received the concession due to its industrial legacy and its heavy dependence on landfill disposal for waste, Defra spokesperson SusanneBaker told FoodProductionDaily.com. The UK currently burns only eight per cent of its waste, while the rest of the EU burns half their waste. The UK needed the concession to allow it to make a moreorderly transition to meet the requirements, she said.
Defra has alerted the European Commission that it wants a further concession. The body has responded by amending a draft guidance to permit member states to determine the type of materials fallingunder the new rules.
Under the guidance member states may decide that certain former food has been pre-treated to such an extent that the risk to public and animal health is such that it can be considered outside the scope of theregulations. The implications of the proposed changes was discussed in a meeting on 6 June between Defra and industry representatives.
Baker said Defra is attempting to calculate how much animal food waste gets to landfill in the UK.
"Government will seek to ensure that adequate controls remain to deal with that risk," a Defra press release stated. "The work that the food industry has been doing to minimise the amount of waste it produces and to identify more sustainable outlets is welcome and it is hoped that this work will continue. Measures, such as thelandfill tax, will continue to encourage the diversion of commercial and industrial waste, including former foodstuffs, away from landfill, and it remains an offence to use landfill to dispose of raw meat and raw fish."
