Lord Deben has been a busy boy again in recent days, making the keynote speech at a conference about waste management in the food industry.
Former farm minister and environment secretary, Lord Deben (pictured), has called for a ban on food waste to landfill while speaking at Waste-Works today (23 March)...
The Rt Hon. John Gummer, Chairman of the UK’s Committee on Climate Change and sustainability consultancy Sancroft International, chaired the event’s keynote session and took part in a discussion on changing attitudes to food waste and sustainable procurement.
The thing is, as well as being the chairman of sustainability consultant Sancroft International, Lord Deben is the chairman of another company with its nose in the green trough: Valpak. Indeed Valpak has an arm specifically dedicated to waste disposal, including food waste:
Our Waste Management and Recycling Services provide a reliable UK-wide collection service to a variety of organisations including: retailers, wholesalers, distribution centres, manufacturers and local authorities. We operate on a flexible basis allowing you to outsource as much or as little of your waste activities as you wish.
So you can't help feeling that a ban on food waste in landfill is going to be very good indeed for the bottom line of Deben Enterprises Inc.
Now a charitable soul might wonder whether this wasn't just Lord Deben speaking in his capacity as a businessman - nothing to do with his work at the CCC at all. Well you might, at a stretch, be able to swallow your doubts and accept such a case, were it not for this document from the website of Lord Deben's Committee on Climate Change.
Waste emissions. These emissions have been falling and are on track with our modelled trajectories to meet carbon budgets. However, further consideration should be given to banning specific types of biodegradable wastes, such as food waste, from landfill.
So yet again, we are forced to wonder whether such demands are made by the CCC for the benefit of the general public or that of the committee's senior members.