Today (27 Aug 2022) the HTA responded to Defra’s announcement on the sale of horticultural peat through the Growing Media Task force. James Barnes, speaking for the taskforce, said:
“We have provided hard data and practical solutions to Defra from across our industry. However, it is disappointing that today’s decision does not appear to be based on the evidence available. The UK is leading Europe in peat removal and while this consultation process has been running, the industry has developed and put into progress a plan to remove peat voluntarily that is already seeing significant results. Any reluctance to embrace peat-free growing media is based on the significant red tape and technical barriers to removing peat which government needs to work with the industry to address.
“Due to the current lack of quality alternative materials to peat, an immediate ban on peat could impact significantly on the availability of growing media. This would mean that the UK’s 30 million gardeners would be faced with products which have not gone through a lengthy enough quality assurance process, and which would have higher costs. All this at a time when so many are already challenged by the extremely high cost of living.
“The industry is developing new products and alternatives to peat and is making real progress on this journey. It has voluntarily committed to removing peat from growing media in retail as early as 2025 and last year made real strides, removing 30% of peat from compost in one year alone.
“Defra’s announcement does not support progress and we repeat our ask to government that it put its energies into addressing the barriers to alternatives rather than unnecessarily legislating.
“We welcome Defra’s acknowledgement of the complexities of removing peat from professional horticulture, and of the need for exemptions from any ban. And whilst the announcements on investment in paludiculture are to be welcomed, the more immediate need for industry in the context of removal of peat by 2024 is to unlock access to more of the materials like wood chip and digestate fibre that could be available at the scale required by 2024 ”
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Posted On: 30/08/2022