Compost firm defends lorry route

The firm takes 200 tonnes of waste from Cardiff each day

A Derbyshire firm which composts tonnes of waste from Wales has rejected claims the journey reduces its green benefit.

Vital Earth, near Ashbourne, takes about 200 tonnes of garden and kitchen waste from Cardiff each day.

But Friends of the Earth said the 300-mile (483km) round trip meant much of the benefit of recycling the waste was lost through lorry emissions.

But Vital Earth said the trucks were delivering compost to stores in Cardiff anyway, so no journeys were wasted.

The firm's £8m Ashbourne site is said to be the most advanced composting facility in the UK, and handled 60,000 tonnes of organic waste last year.

Cardiff County Council said its contract with the firm was hundreds of thousands of pounds cheaper than more local options.

Moving the waste requires five lorry journeys each day.

'Carbon footprint'

Malcom Rich, from Vital Earth, said: "We are very sensitive to the carbon footprint and as a company are always looking to reduce our carbon footprint and we are looking to go carbon neutral over the next few years.

"But when there are lorries travelling the roads and we can bring the compost into site without affecting the carbon footprint, we should do that."

Janet Rawlings, from Friends of the Earth, said that while this type of recycling was the best way forward, moving it so far was a bad idea.

"The pity here is that Cardiff left it so late to start their recycling that there was not time to build their own composting centre nearby.

"The EU landfill directive which comes in next year should have made them act sooner."

Cardiff County Council said it needed to start composting now to meet recycling targets and both home collections and its own composting centre had been delayed by planning problems.