An industry expert has predicted that a lack of food waste may result in the consolidation of the anaerobic digestion market. Jeremy Jacobs, who is the technical director of the Renewable Energy Association, has stated that increased competition, in terms of the number of plants processing the material, is one of the reasons why shortages are being forecast.
Another reason for consolidation which has also been identified is that there is now a reduced amount of food waste in general, which Jacobs attributes to campaigns by groups such as WRAP which have encouraged a decrease in resource waste.
The technical director has been quick to point out though that the situation is not uniform throughout the country as some plants are presently running at capacity. This situation could be due to inconsistency amongst councils about whether waste food is collected or not. Whereas in some areas this service is provided, in others it is non-existent, or has been terminated.
It has been suggested that a way to combat the predicted shortfall would be for a more consistent council service to be in operation as this would allow sufficient waste to be collected. However, it was stated by Jacobs, in an interview with letsrecycle.com, that for this to come into effect there would need to be “government invention to drive it forward faster.”
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