Green Alliance: Landfill ban on organic waste could reduce methane emissions by 19 per cent

Environmental charity and think tank, Green Alliance, has said that banning biodegradable waste from landfills by 2025 would reduce the UK’s total methane emissions by 19 per cent. ‘The Global Methane Pledge: How the UK can meet its commitment’ report intends to show how the UK can still make its commitment made at COP26 last year to reduce UK methane emissions by 30 per cent by 2030.

The report said that the Government has made ‘little headway’ a year on from making the commitment, and shows the potential of a 43 per cent decrease in emissions by 2030 if the Government followed its advice.

Currently, Scotland has a proposed ban on organic waste heading to landfills forecast for 2025, while Defra has a similar ban in place for England for 2028. The report shows that the 2028 ban would only result in a 1 per cent reduction by 2030.

The report also notes that the landfill tax introduced in England in 1996 plus the growing implementation of landfill gas capture from the mid-2000s gas, resulted in a 68 per cent reduction in UK methane emissions since 1990.

Green Alliance suggests introducing a mandate that landfill operators capture 80 per cent of methane gases by 2030 which would cut methane emissions by an additional 24 per cent. This would also improve air quality and create a ‘ready supply’ of biogas to be used for fuel.