Calls to bring forward a total ban on recyclable material being sent to landfill are increasing, as the EFRA waste report show big increases in the amount of textile waste being dumped. Throwaway fashion from shops such as Primark are being blamed for an increase in the amount of clothes being dumped in landfill sites.
Although the proportion of total waste dumped in landfill has decreased by nearly 1/4 in recent years, textile waste has risen to more than one million tonnes in the same period, driven by the tendency to discard low cost clothes quickly.
The biggest culprit was the retail and wholesale sector, which produced 12.7 million tonnes of waste in 2002-03, nearly half of which was sent to landfill. In addition, nearly half of household waste sent to landfill was bought from retail supermarkets and convenience stories.
The report highlighted the importance of reducing food waste, with one third of food bought – currently thrown away every year and generating 18 million tonnes of carbon dioxide in landfill sites, equivalent to the emissions from 4 million cars.
The Government’s Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) has been running a ‘Love Food, Hate Waste‘ campaign since November 2007 and Defra has also announced plans to reform packaging label rules to reduce confusion over ‘best before’ dates.
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Source: The Ecologist
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