Chris Winward, commercial director at Privilege, explains that with the planet facing a climate emergency, “Now is the time for collective commitments and actions from everyone. In the current election campaign, the green agenda has been at the front of peoples' minds like never before.
"All the major political parties have included actions in response to the climate emergency as part of their manifestos, but it is imperative that we communicate our vision for how people, businesses and organizations can take actions to drive a reduction in emissions, as we can't rely purely on government led initiatives."
Winward explained that the manifesto outlines the vision for the UK to produce sufficient affordable renewable energy, including green gas, for everyone.
"For this to be a reality we need to see vast developments in infrastructure and incentives for a decarbonized heat and transport system.”
According to Winward, waste is an underused resource. Each year, approximately 10.2m tons of food waste is generated post-farmgate, but less than 2 percent of total energy generation came from energy from waste systems in 2018.
"To send food waste to landfill that could otherwise be used to create green energy is socially unacceptable and must stop," he said.
The manifesto includes aspirations for increased opportunities in the renewables sector.
"We want to see a thriving renewable energy sector, with the development of 'green communities' centered on local energy generation using renewable sources, such as food waste."
Since 2012, Privilege has invested over £500 million into new builds and acquisition projects in the energy from waste sector. The manifesto highlights actions that anyone can take to contribute to the collective response to the climate emergency.
"We encourage people to challenge their prospective MP candidates on what they're going to do to support the use of waste to produce energy. Post-election, we recommend writing to newly elected MPs to highlight the opportunity for generation of renewable energy from waste.
"For the social media savvy, we recommend sharing a 'green pledge' or even a video to show the amount of food waste from your home that could be used to generate energy from waste," Winward concluded.
