Soil forms part of the nation’s natural capital, performing essential ecosystem services. Yet, at present, UK’s agricultural soils are degrading year- over- year with over 6 million hectares of soil at risk of compaction or erosion.
One of the key means to protect soil fertility is via applying compost totry. About 3 Mtpa of compost is being produced locally in the UK every year, while our study found that the overall market need to feed arable land in the UK with compost could amount to 22Mtpa.
We asked Dr. Jane Gilbert at Carbon Clarity to analyze how can the UK increase in the local production of compost and ensure that sufficient amount of compost is applied to soil. The paper discuss the current alarming policy disconnect between soil food and waste and suggests a novel approach to protecting UK’s agricultural soil via a revised Gov. approach and supporting policy measures.
Review a short presentation summarizing ‘The Soil-Food-Waste Policy Disconnect’ paper’