Now Co-op goes peat-free: Supermarket chain stops selling compost with peat

The Co-op has stopped selling compost with peat to help tackle climate change.

It is the first high street store to take action after warnings by the Royal Horticultural Society and the Daily Mail Weekend magazine columnist Monty Don.

Natural peatlands absorb and store carbon which helps tackle climate change and provide habitats for plants and animals. 

But peat loses this function when it is dug up and sold in stores.

Don criticised the use of peat in compost as ‘environmental vandalism’ but it continues to be used due to its ability to retain water.

The Government set a ‘voluntary target’ ten years ago for stores to stop selling peat by last year but no major shops followed and campaigners have now called for a tougher approach.

Co-op – working with retailer Westland – invested £35million to develop a peat-free compost called New Horizon.

Martin Spencer, of Co-op, said: ‘We want to make it easier for our customers to make small changes in their everyday lives which, together, add up to making a big difference to our environment.’ 

Other stores have planned to phase out peat. Around 90 per cent of Travis Perkins’ compost sales were peat-free last year and it aims to stop selling the material this year. Wickes aims to phase it out by 2025.

B&Q, Hillier and the Blue Diamond garden centre group said they were committed to stop using peat but gave no date.

In 2019, peat still made up over 40 per cent by volume of the compost sold despite the 2020 target.