The EU has required separate food waste collection since January 2024. Yet in 2024, nine EU countries still collected less than 10% of it. So where does the rest go?
In this final episode of the season, Giulia and Nanna follow the food waste that falls through the cracks: into incinerators, into landfills, and into a much bigger global picture.
Janek Vähk, Zero Waste Europe's Zero Pollution Policy Manager, explains what happens to methane when organic waste is buried or burned, and what policy can do about it.
Then Mariel Vilella, Director of the Global Climate Programme at GAIA (Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives), zooms out to show how the rest of the world is grappling with the same problem.
Resources:
- NABU study on incineration in Germany
- Video - Material Recovery Biological Treatment
- Addressing Landfill Methane Emissions with Environmental Justice
- Seven Key Solutions to Landfill Methane