A call for the
phase-out of peat in compost material was announced today by
Environment Secretary Hilary Benn as part of the latest Act on CO2
campaign.
The phase out would mean that gardening centres and DIY stores
would cease to sell peat-based composts for the amateur gardening
market within ten years and switch to peat-free alternatives instead.
The Act on CO2 campaign launched today, targets amateur gardeners
who use the majority of the peat (around 70%) that is used in
horticulture. The campaign focuses on raising awareness of the
environmental impacts associated with peat and promoting a switch
to peat-free alternatives in order to reduce carbon dioxide
emissions and protect the valuable biodiversity and wildlife of
lowland raised bogs (from which peat is extracted for horticulture
use).
Defra has been working with the horticultural trade, DIY chains
and garden centres to provide information for gardeners on
peat-free products and lower peat alternatives at point of sale.
Peat extraction for use in garden compost causes significant
damage to the environment by harming valuable natural habitats and
by releasing carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere that
contributes to climate change. Around half a million tonnes of
carbon dioxide is emitted each year as a result of peat extraction
from UK sites for horticultural use, and this doesn’t take account
of the fact that we import over 50% of our peat from overseas.
Most gardeners are not even aware that many composts contain peat
and that peat-free alternatives can produce equally good results
in their gardens. In a recent survey carried out by the
Horticultural Trades Association (HTA), two-thirds of garden
owners were unaware of the environmental issues surrounding peat
and its extraction for use in compost and growbags.
Launching the Act on CO2 campaign at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew,
which has been peat-free since 1992, the Environment Secretary,
Hilary Benn announced the plan to work with industry to achieve a
complete phase out of peat from the amateur gardener market by
2020.
Hilary Benn said:
"The horticultural industry has made progress in
reducing peat use over recent years, but given the urgency of
reducing our emissions we need to go much further. I know that the
proposed 2020 phase-out target for the amateur market will be
challenging, but we know this is what we need to do. Peat soils
are extremely valuable carbon stores as well as being home to
wildlife and important to archaeology, and we should be doing
everything we can to protect them.
Amateur gardeners are by far the biggest users of peat, using
over 2 million cubic metres each year. Our research shows us that
gardeners often don’t realise the damage that peat extraction
causes or that the compost they're buying contains peat.
That is why we're launching this campaign today to raise
awareness of the damage using peat-based composts can cause and
help us as gardeners to choose alternative peat-free compost products."
The campaign is supported by celebrity gardener Diarmuid Gavin,
who said:
"Consumers' concern about what they can
personally do to help protect the environment is at a record high.
However, people often struggle to find easy ways to make a big
difference. Using peat-free products in the home and garden is one
of the simplest, yet most effective ways that people can make a
positive environmental impact and reduce their carbon footprint.
"For most uses in the garden (e.g. pots, growbags,
hanging baskets, digging into or tidying up flowerbeds) peat-free
alternatives are just as good as peat-based compost, and they
don’t lead to the loss of our valuable peat bogs. We hope that
this campaign will prove to gardeners that you can have blooming
good results - not just with traditional growing media but also
with environmental friendly peat-free products."
The new Soil Strategy, Safeguarding our Soils, that was
published on 24 September 2009 includes a number of specific
commitments on peat, and highlights the Government’s plans to
develop a 'future framework for action' on peat
in 2010, to explore options to strengthen the protection of both
upland and lowland peat soils. In developing this, Defra will be
working with the industry on proposals to further reduce the
horticultural use of peat within both the amateur and professional
market, and we plan to publish a formal consultation document in
the summer.
Notes to Editors
For more information on Defra’s Act on CO2 Peat-Free campaign
and to view the video of Diarmuid Gavin explaining the benefits of
using peat-free compost when planting see link -
www.direct.gov.uk/buyingcompost
2. The UK’s Greenhouse Gas Inventory records emissions of 431,000
tonnes a year for peat extraction from UK sites. However, as over
50% of the peat that we use in the UK is imported (mainly from the
Republic of Ireland and the Baltics), this is not a true
reflection of total emissions from our use of peat for
horticulture.
3. Gardens, gardeners and the environment, October 2007.
The data draws upon the results of the HTA’s latest consumer
research. Over the period from 1 to 7 June 2007, a representative
sample of 1014 GB adults were interviewed at home on behalf of the
HTA by Ipsos Mori as part of their Capibus Omnibus survey.
Significant progress has been made over the past few years to
reduce the horticultural use of peat, in response to the current
Government target for 90% of the total market for growing media
and soil conditioners to be peat free by the end of 2010. However,
only 54% of the total market is peat free.
There are a range of peat free alternatives currently on the
market using materials such as bark, green compost, wood waste and
wood fibre and coir (derived from coconut husks). Recycled
(peat-based) mushroom compost is also sometimes used. Many of the
lower peat formulations that are on the market will use a
proportion of these materials in their products.
For most garden uses, these alternatives are just as good as
peat based composts and they don’t lead to the loss of valuable
peat bogs. A recent Which? report found that peat free products
out-perform their peat-based equivalents for a number of uses.
It is recognised that for some very specialist uses and plants –
for example, carnivorous plants that are native to peat bogs and
some ericaceous plants that are native to moorlands - some
alternatives may not yet work as well as peat in all
circumstances. To reduce your carbon footprint, it’s important
that you look for peat free compost for all of your main garden
uses.
The Act on CO2 Peat Free campaign, with its important messages
for our protecting our natural environment, is part of the
world-wide UN International Year of Biodiversity 2010
celebrations. The diversity of life on earth is crucial for human
well-being and now is the time to act to preserve it. For
information on International Year of Biodiversity events,
initiatives and exhibitions across the UK visit
www.biodiversityislife.net
Contacts:
Defra Press Office
Phone: 020 7238 6600
NDS.DEFRA@coi.gsi.gov.uk