§ Mr. HurstTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research she has commissioned on the impact on human health of home composting. [139457]
§ Mr. MorleyNo research has been commissioned by the Department on the impact on human health of home composting. However, Defra is developing a new three-year waste research strategy, in direct response to the Strategy Unit Report `Waste not, Want not', in which new initiatives examining environmental and health-related impacts of wastes will be considered in consultation with the Environment Agency.
Recent research on behalf of the Environment Agency has suggested that emissions from different forms of home composting systems are, as might be expected, low and difficult to monitor.