How Sizzle is helping to find sustainable alternatives to peat
Every year gardeners and commercial growers use around 1.7 million cubic metres of peat from peatbogs which in the UK store at least 3,000 million tonnes of carbon, twenty times as much as all UK forests. This is despite the fact getting the sale of peat banned has been on the ‘to do’ list for environmental campaigners for over 30 years.
With support from the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, Sizzle has spoken to a wide range of stakeholders to get a deeper understanding as to why this transition hasn’t happened. We discovered that:
Environmental campaigners have not been sufficiently focussed to drive home the legislative change required.
There is limited customer pressure and an overuse of peat when other more sustainable options exist.
There has been insufficient haste from industry to explore and invest in alternatives.
A small number of companies have illustrated that the transition is complicated but possible.
The government has indicated that it will introduce a ban on the sale of peat products to English amateur gardeners in the UK from 2024. This ban will require new legislation and there is a high risk that it will not be included in the next legislative timeframe due to a growing backlog of government commitments. Campaigners need to do all that they can to ensure that this is not the case, otherwise there will be further delay.
The proposed ban does not cover commercial growers many of whom face more complex challenges with certain plant types. DEFRA has indicated that they will give these growers time to find solutions but that they will also ultimately face a peat ban. Campaigners needs to ensure that these extensions provide sufficient time for growers to adapt without offering too much ‘wriggle room’.
Given the uncertainty that exists on whether the latest government commitment will become a legal reality, Sizzle has concluded that Esmee should continue to support environmental campaigns to get the ban introduced, but that these campaigns need to be more focussed and high profile.
Sizzle also believes that a multi-sector, measured and open-sourced practical trial could support the transition away from peat by building more collaboration, helping to create better informed decision-making and building greater public awareness and action.
Such a trial would follow the principles of the waste hierarchy and cover five areas:
Reducing inappropriate use of peat and build better understanding of alternatives.
Cutting demand by promoting composting to fill the peat replacement gap.
Undertaking further investigation into the role that green and food waste derivatives can play.
Boosting collaboration and knowledge sharing.
Wider engagement with legislators.
Sizzle is now working with a wide range of experts to assess the value of such a trial, to scope what it could achieve and to find a suitable area for implementation. The full Sizzle research report can be found here.
If your organisation is interested in being part of the trial, please email trewin@sizzle.org.uk.