Peat
In August 2022 the UK Government announced its intention to ban the sale of peat to amateur gardeners by 2024. It is understood that this ban will apply to bagged peat compost, but it not yet clear whether peat-containing products, such as plants, will also be subject to a 2024 ban. The ban follows a public consultation, which ran from December 2021 to March 2022, and marks the first occasion that any UK government has considered legislative action to tackle the use of peat in horticulture.
Keeping 1.5°C Alive: Closing the Gap in the 2020s, version 1.0, published by the Energy Transitions Commission in September 2021, states: ‘Peatlands contain layers of partially decomposed organic material preserved in waterlogged environments. They contain a large fraction of the world’s terrestrial carbon stock and when damaged or destroyed can become large sources of GHG emissions.’
High Speed Rail (Crewe – Manchester) Environmental Statement, Glossary, abbreviations and references, published by the Department for Transport in 2022, defines peat as: ‘A partially decomposed superficial deposit comprising of a mass of semi-carbonised vegetation which has grown under waterlogged, anaerobic conditions, usually in bogs or swamps.’
See also: Types of soil.
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