WINDROW COMPOSTING

That this House believes that the United Kingdom requires a more appropriate system for recycling green waste and food waste because the windrow system is in most cases unsuitable; considers that the current Environment Agency (EA) recommendation of a 250 metre buffer zone between a composting site and the nearest residents is insufficient to protect human health against bio aerosol and odour intrusion; calls on the EA to show by peer-reviewed data their recommended buffer zone applies to breezy hill flow terrains; notes that evidence from studies done at Aachen and Giessen Universities in Germany illustrates that local topography and climate are important variables that need to be taken into consideration when deciding the width of the buffer zone; and against this background requests that the Minister asks the EA and the Health and Safety Executive to provide meaningful advice for local authorities on alternative waste management systems such as anaerobic digestion or gasification to avoid communities and localities being enveloped by a vile composting odour detrimental to human health and welfare.