According to the MET Office, statistics for April 2017 show that the UK as a whole saw rainfall levels drop to around 47% of the average usually seen for the month. And, the overall UK mean temperature has been 0.6°C higher than average for April, with the daytime temperature for England and Wales 1°C above the monthly average.
Commenting on the dry spell, Jeremy Jacobs, technical director of the Renewable Energy Association (REA), said there would inevitably be a fall in the amount of green waste collected.
Mr Jacobs said: “Fluctuation is not unusual but recyclers are paid on what comes through the gate so it’s not good news for them.
“Last spring was wet followed by warm weather which meant that sites saw an increase in the amount of green waste over the norm.”
According to Mr Jacobs, people are likely to cut their lawns “less frequently” because of the dry conditions and volumes of landscaping green waste will be down. However, he said that if the UK experienced a wet summer volumes of green waste could “balance out over time”.
Mr Jacobs added: “At the same time wet weather can see a reduction in garden waste, people can’t cut their grass when it’s wet. We have to cope with the English weather. It demonstrates what a robust sector we are.”
Impact
Andrew Thompson, of A & E Thompson Composting Services, based in Durham, said that the dry weather had definitely had an impact on the amount of compost being produced.
Mr Thompson said: “We had the busiest March ever, however, for April we were 20% – 30% down on tonnages.”
Shorts Agricultural Services, which operates a composting site just outside of Ascot in Berkshire, has also confirmed that it has felt the effects of the dry conditions.
Gavin Bartlett, compost manager at Shorts, said: “When you are dependent on the gate fee of course there’s an effect on the business. We still have all the costs and less money coming in to keep things going.
“Sales of finished product obviously help, but the gate fee really is where the money is made.”
Mr Bartlett added: “I haven’t really studied the figures for inputs but would think we are somewhere between 15 and 20% down at the moment on where we would like to be.”
Others have claimed that the conditions have impacted the quantity of compost being produced, with one composter telling letsrecycle.com that material had taken longer to break down in recent weeks.
However, in some areas of the country organics recyclers have said that the dry weather has had ‘marginal’ effects on the compost being produced. Justin Dampney, of Dorset organic waste treatment firm Eco Sustainable Solutions said that input had reduced – by around 5%.
Mr Dampney said: “We water our compost down in the initial process so it’s not affecting the production process.
“As it has not been so warm the moisture hasn’t been drawn out. If it gets hotter, then it might affect us.”
Processors based in the midlands and the north of the country also reported that there has been little change in their operations.
AD
For some in the organic waste sector however, the dry conditions do offer something of a boost to business. Companies offering food waste disposal through Anaerobic Digestion (AD) plants have reported increased demand for digestate – the fertiliser product created through the AD process – due to a lack of moisture in farmland.
Simon Musther, head of commercial operations for food waste processing firm Biogen, said the drought had helped create demand for digestate.
Mr Musther said: “80% of what comes out of the AD plant is digestate which needs to be spread on the land. You can’t spread digestate when it’s wet as it damages the crop.”
Helen Franklin of Lower Reule Bioenergy which operates an AD plant in Staffordshire also reported an increased demand for liquid digestate, noting: “Farmers want a liquid to add nitrates and moisture back into the ground.”
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