The REA has recently launched REview 24, our annual assessment of the UK’s renewable energy and clean technology sector. This flagship report captures the state of play across the industry and outlines the progress needed to meet critical net zero goals.   

To highlight the report’s key findings, we’ll be sharing weekly insights until Christmas, covering our strategic focus areas: Power, Heat, Circular Bioresources, Transport, and Finance. 

Each piece will explore the challenges and opportunities within these sectors. Following the launch of the REA Organics Conference 2025 earlier today, this week we focus on circular bioresources. 

A year of progress – and many consultations 

England has made significant progress with the Simpler Recycling reforms, including the confirmation of mandatory food and garden waste collections from households (from March 2026) and food waste collections from businesses (from March 2025 with a two-year extension for micro-firms). In our engagement with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the REA is highlighting the need for sufficient funding for education and communication campaigns to maximise capture of unavoidable food and garden waste and minimise contamination. Our goal is to ensure collections are not only high in volume, but also in quality. 

Elsewhere, progress has also been made in revising the Compost and Anaerobic Digestate Quality Protocols. The Environment Agency (EA) has agreed to publish interim revised Resource Frameworks (the new name for Quality Protocols) whilst additional risk assessment work is undertaken. The REA supported the introduction of tighter plastic limits for compost and digestate, as we want to protect soils, but have also called for more work to be done with waste producers to improve the quality of feedstocks. 

The Scottish Government have consulted on their Circular Economy and Waste Route Map to 2030, proposing various changes across the waste and resources sector to improve circularity in Scotland. In Northern Ireland, there are similar discussions ongoing via a consultation titled ‘Rethinking our Resources: Measures for Climate Action and a Circular Economy in NI’. The REA responded to both consultations, incorporating members’ views into these broader plans and highlighting the role our members play in achieving a fully circular economy. Globally, we were proud to be involved in landmark discussions for the adoption of compostable Price Look Up (PLU) stickers for fruit and vegetables and work on this topic continues. 

In addition to responding to consultation responses, our team has been busy participating in task-and-finish and co-design groups across the regulatory landscape. We are working with Defra on agricultural reforms including co-design of regulations to tackle pollution from farming, particularly ammonia emissions. We continue to emphasise the importance of soil protection and the vital role compost and digestate play in providing nutrients and organic matter back to the soil. 

What are some key actions that should be taken, going into 2025? 

• Adequate funding for environmental regulators: This is essential to ensure fair implementation and enforcement of regulations, maintaining a functioning permitting system, and preventing illegal operators from undercutting legitimate businesses. In the longer term, the new Secretary of State must conduct a strategic review of how the environmental regulators function. 

• Support quality organics recycling: A commitment to funding Local Authorities to deliver local targeted communications for public behaviour change for food and garden waste collections, as well as funding centralised campaigns run to deliver high performing collections. 

• Improve and maintain soil health: Acknowledging the benefits of compost and digestates, and mandating soil health metrics in the Environment Land Management Scheme. 

Further information about the REA’s work in the organics recycling, anaerobic digestion and composting areas can be found in the full report and on the REA website. 

Keep an eye out for the final blog in this series, covering Finance, which we will publish next week.

Jenny Grant, Head of Organics and Natural Capital 

Access the full REview 24 report here: https://www.r-e-a.net/rea-launches-flagship-review-24-report/