My Lords, Amendment 76 would insert a brief new clause after Clause 58. I declare an interest in that I am a member, supporter and honorary officer of a number of environmental and related NGOs working in this sphere. There is a considerable and significant consensus among a growing number of organisations that the approach put forward in the amendment is overdue. Prominent among those organisations is the Green Alliance—which really has done a great deal of important research—to which I personally am very grateful. I thank it for having very much prompted me to put forward the amendment. However, it is not just the Green Alliance. For example, the Committee on Climate Change noted in its recent report of 26 June that,
“further consideration should be given to banning specific types of biodegradable wastes, such as food waste, from landfill”.
I am glad to see the noble Lord, Lord Deben, is in his place because nobody knows more about these things than he does. I was interested to be reminded that on 12 February this year he asked in this House whether it was not time that we banned this material—food waste—from landfill. As I recall, he argued that it was seriously dangerous to create methane. Banning it would enable us to insist upon wider recycling of what is wasted. Commenting on WRAP research into the feasibility of landfill bans, Liz Goodwin, chief executive officer, said:
“This piece of research shows that we could make some significant financial and environmental savings if we stopped sending certain types of rubbish to landfill”.
Tamar Energy and the PDM Group, both large AD investors, have called for food waste landfill bans. The Renewable Energy Association has also produced highly relevant supporting arguments.
During the first day on Report last Monday, proponents of the decarbonisation target amendment, backed by an impressive coalition of businesses, investors and civil society groups, powerfully argued that such a target would provide businesses with the certainty that they needed to invest. The target in their view would have lowered the cost of borrowing, the benefits of which would have filtered to consumers in the form of lower energy bills. A speedier move from a carbon-based energy system, which is becoming progressively more expensive, to a low-carbon system with high investment in energy efficiency would have guaranteed comparatively lower energy prices in the long term. In addition, the certainty of a target would have encouraged development of low-carbon supply chains and associated jobs in the UK.
Like the decarbonisation target amendment, this amendment would provide investors with greater certainty
so that we can end the dumping of a substantial renewable energy source in the form of organic waste into landfill. This will benefit business and consumers, and help the UK to meet carbon and renewable energy targets. There are four key benefits. First, it will help the UK meet its renewable energy and climate change targets. Waste emissions, mostly from organic waste in landfill, represent about 3% of total UK emissions. Secondly, it would reduce the amount of waste going to landfill. As recently as 2009, the UK was still land-filling nearly 21 million tonnes of organic waste. Thirdly, the diversion of food waste from landfill would drive at least £693 million of feedstock to anaerobic digestion each year. Diverting this food waste from landfill would also save over £500 million in disposal costs. This is well demonstrated in valuable research by the Green Alliance. Fourthly, it would reduce risk. AD plants are not being built because of concerns about feedstock. Of Tamar Energy’s 40 proposed AD plants, 25 are at risk due to difficulties in sourcing food waste. Investment in these plants, which is already secured, represents the single largest clean-tech capital deal of 2013.
It was claimed in Committee that AD does not require targets because these would risk the creation of new compliance burdens for business and local authorities. However, the amendment would offer certainty to business. For example, as I have just outlined, Tamar Energy recently called for a ban on food waste to landfill. Feedstock risk is currently a major contributor to financing problems for the AD industry: banks are simply not lending to incineration plants without guaranteed feedstock arrangements with local authorities. It was recently reported that 25 of Tamar Energy’s 40 proposed AD plants are at risk due to difficulties in sourcing food waste, and that a landfill ban and separate food waste collections would address this problem. Indeed, PDM Group also supports a landfill ban for food waste as this would underpin investment in AD plants.
What is more, it is worth noting that the lack of concern in official quarters about feedstock risk for anaerobic digestion contrasts poorly with the strong concern about feedstock risk for conventional gas generation. In July 2012, the Chancellor announced £500 million in tax breaks for new oil and gas field development to give,
“investors the long-term certainty needed to make decisions on investment in … gas”.
In 2013, he halved the tax rate for onshore gas production. This contrast surely needs to be addressed. If the amendment does nothing else, it enables us to address it.