During a Standing Committee debate on the Bill, environment minister Michael Meacher successfully argued that the Animal By-Products Order would be sufficient regulation for the control of possible pathogens in catering waste.
New Animal By-Products regulations come into force on May 1 2003, requiring catering waste to be treated in a closed vessel and heated to 70C for one hour, depending on particle size.
The doomed clause in the WET Bill, brought in by the House of Lords, had said compost should be treated at 98 degrees for two hours. However, composters said that the clause would make a “nonsense” of the composting process. Thermophilic and Mesophilic micro-organisms, essential for producing a high quality compost product, would be killed at this temperature, they said (see letsrecycle.com story).
Speaking to his fellow MPs on the Bill's Standing Committee yesterday, Mr Meacher said: “I have made careful investigation into the matter, and I am assured that a temperature of 70C would kill all harmful animal pathogens. The Government has no reason to believe that heating to 70C for at least one hour is not adequate for preventing any conceivable return of foot and mouth or other animal health diseases.”
Register for free to comment