Not enough food waste?

17:20 1st August 2008

A debate is raging over the viability of building new composting facilities in the UK .

As gardeners will know, compost from decomposed organic waste can be very useful for bringing along plants, fruit and vegetables.

But a former chairman of the Composting Association is claiming that no more waste treatment facilities should be built as there is not enough waste to go around.

Trelawney Dampney said there is an over-supply issue in South-West England .

"People are scrabbling about for food waste," said Mr Dampney.

"We're all going to be aggressive in trying to get the waste in."

Mr Dampney now runs a treatment centre and has faced opposition to his claims from his former stomping ground.

Association for Organics Recycling (formerly the Composting Associaion) acting chief executive Jeremy Jacobs is among those who believe that the UK could continue to develop its composting facilities.

"There is significant building going on but if you look at the fact that we only collect about three per cent of food waste, if we are to meet our LATS targets then we are going to need at least three times the number of facilities that are already here," he responded by saying.

Compost from the facilities is used for both agriculture and horticulture, but keen gardeners can make their own, boosting the health of plants in the garden and greenhouse alike.