The Environment Agency (EA) is reportedly working with the waste sector to ensure there is capacity to process the additional waste after the heatwave caused freezer failures across supermarkets.
The Agency said the hot weather had caused “exceptional” freezer failures, increasing the tonnage of food waste sent for recycling.
Greenpeace has also reported that 22% of UK adults were forced to throw away food that spoiled as a result of the hot weather.
However, the EA stressed the additional volumes represented only a small proportion of the UK’s annual food waste arisings.
The issue has highlighted the increasingly tight capacity within the UK’s anaerobic digestion (AD) sector, with operators already reporting facilities approaching maximum capacity following the rollout of mandatory household food waste collections under Simpler Recycling.
Earlier this week, operators were contacted by the EA to establish which food waste treatment sites were operating at maximum capacity and which had spare capacity available.
The information is being collated for the regulator to help redirect additional food waste to facilities able to accept it.
Anaerobic digestion capacity tightening
The market has been adjusting since household food waste collections were introduced under Simpler Recycling in England in March 2026, bringing additional feedstock into the organics sector.
While collection volumes have become more predictable over recent months, operators say the additional tonnages have tightened available treatment capacity across the market.
Gate fees have also risen since the policy was introduced, now sitting at £15 per tonne – representing an increase of 75% since January 2026.
As more AD facilities approach operational limits, competition for available capacity has increased, placing upward pressure on treatment prices and prompting some contract renegotiations.
The recent heatwave-related increase in supermarket food waste has added further short-term pressure to a market that was already operating with reduced headroom.
Gates fees expected to increase further
Market participants are now expecting AD gate fees to increase further during July as operators respond to tighter capacity and continued demand for food waste treatment.
Last month saw that AD gate fees had continued to rise as more sites reached capacity, with increased food waste volumes putting additional pressure on existing infrastructure.
The tightening market has also led to contract prices being renegotiated as operators respond to changing supply and demand.
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