A report published today (October 21) by the body in association with WRAP found that up to 1.1 million tonnes of treatment capacity for source segregated waste, such as anaerobic digestion, went unused in 2007/08. This was in addition to 137,000 tonnes of mixed waste processing capacity, such as mechanical biological treatment.
He added that the extra capacity would be needed more and more in the near future as local authorities turn to waste processing facilities in an attempt to divert waste from landfill and meet LATS targets.
The report – entitled 'The State of Composting and Biological Waste Treatment in the UK 2007/8' – found that there was 5.7 million tonnes of organic waste processing overall in the UK with 4.5million tonnes of organic waste receiving treatment.
The figures show that, at the time of the survey, up to 20.1% of processing capacity was not being used.
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