AD features in London’s draft environment strategy

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has published the draft London Environment Strategy.

Focusing on improving the environment in the city and mitigating its contribution to climate change, the report states that “London needs to reduce, reuse and recycle more, to see waste as the valuable resource that it is and to reduce London’s increasing waste bill as the city grows.”

In terms of waste management and disposal, the new strategy places significant emphasis on developing a circular economy in the UK capital, minimising landfill, and recycling as much as possible. Waste-to-energy projects, such as anaerobic digestion, are highlighted as means to deal with residual waste while producing renewable energy and reducing landfill.

“Reducing the amount of edible food we discard is an environmental, social and economic priority. However there will always be unavoidable food waste in the form of scraps, vegetable peelings and bones which should be sent for composting or energy recovery,” the draft report states.

“Such food waste can be used to generate 100 per cent renewable energy using anaerobic digestion. This would save around 175,000 tonnes of CO2e emissions and save £120m in disposal costs.”

A public consultation on the proposed plans is open to contributions from now until 17 November. According to a statement, the Mayor is looking for contributions from both individuals and organisations.