Extra Government funding must be provided to speed up separate collections of food waste, the industry body has demanded.
It says collecting the waste separately could save local authorities more than £1bn in operational costs by 2050.
The Government’s resources and waste strategy published late last year included a commitment to rolling out and funding separate food waste collections for all households and 'appropriate businesses' in England subject to consultation.
Charlotte Morton of the Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association reiterated the importance of Government support for anaerobic digestion to recycle inedible food waste into renewable energy and natural fertiliser.
She said: 'We warmly welcomed the Government’s commitment to universal separate food waste collections, but we know from conversations with local authorities that they need certainty that they will be supported to implement this policy, given the competing pressures on their budgets.
'ADBA is therefore calling on Government to make funding available to local authorities for food waste collections as quickly as possible so the economic and environmental benefits of these can be realised.'
