What next for Enrich the Earth?
Enrich the Earth is a movement of influential organisations committed to replacing peat with sustainable alternatives and demonstrating the circular economy in action.
We are focusing activities in the North East of England, where we are testing a range of independently evaluated activities that could have national significance. The project is largely funded by the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, a significant investor in nature-based projects.
Enrich the Earth was formally launched in September 2023 and achieved positive press coverage backed up by influencer content on social media. The launch has generated wide-spread interest and gives us a great base on which to build. Over the coming months, we have set ourselves five targets:
1. Creating and testing a new compost
Our overall ambition is to replace peat with more sustainable alternatives. This is complex as the use of peat is embedded in most of the horticultural sector and no single material can adequately replace it. That’s why a mixture is required.
We believe that green or food waste could make up 30% of a replacement compost mixture. Unfortunately, there is scepticism within the sector as previous mixes have tended to be of low quality. We aim to defy the critics by creating a new high-quality compost which will be tested and verified with five diverse commercial growers.
The new compost will be developed using materials collected from the Durham County Council’s PAS 100 Joint Stocks site. The new compost will be created ready for the new growing season with test results ready to be shared in June 2024.
2. Sparking a Compost Revolution
Green and food waste is heavy, of low value and expensive to transport. We believe that the most sustainable way to handle this waste is as locally as possible. This belief is driving our call for a compost revolution: encouraging households, community groups and employers to consider composting.
We are aiming to implement this call by creating local “Enrich the Earth Ambassadors”: giving them the skills, motivation and ability to promote composting in their local area. The creation of this network is being led by our local community worker and supported by online content and resources. Conversations have started with a number of organisations and we aim to build this network in the coming months.
3. Reducing contamination in green and food waste
Nationally it is estimated that it costs £50 million a year to remove contamination such as plastics from green and food waste. This contamination lowers the value of the material, making it difficult to use as part of the peat replacement mix. We are planning to test ways to reduce this contamination, which could have national implications.
We intend to identify the collection rounds that are most contaminated around the Durham County Council Joint Stock’s site. We will then gain an understanding as to why this contamination is occurring, and run measured behaviour change trials to reduce contamination levels.
We have also been inspired by a brilliant French business called Les Alchimistes. Les Alchimistes collect inedible, contamination-free food waste from companies and organisations, which is then turned it into high quality compost that can be sold locally. We are undertaking a feasibility study to assess the viability of creating a social enterprise in line with this model in Newcastle, with potential for scalability across the UK. This social enterprise would use electric vehicles and cargo bikes to collect food waste from participating businesses and organisations. This waste would be taken to a local composting site, where a self-contained rocket composter would create a new high-quality compost that would be made available for sale.
4. Changing Legislation
Our partners have identified a range of legislation that is hindering the transition from peat to more sustainable alternatives by making it more costly or administratively complex. Over the coming months we will work with partners to identify how a case can best be made to the appropriate policymakers to shift these obstacles.
5. Having a national influence
Our intention is for the experiments in the North East to have national significance, creating systemic change. To achieve this we have created an Expert Advisory Group of over 30 diverse and influential organisations who are helping us to develop, deliver and promote the campaign. Our four workstreams are led by independent experts; ensuring that our approach is authentic and credible. Our activities are being measured by an independent evaluation agency. All of our results, good and bad, will be openly shared.
Collaboration and open learning are at the heart of Enrich the Earth. Our approach is constantly evolving as we gain a deeper understanding of the challenges and gain new information from different organisations.