Early or Late? The Three Lessons of Earth Overshoot Day

“Better three hours too soon than a minute too late” is a well-known line from the world’s favourite playwright, William Shakespeare – but while most of us strive to be ahead of our professional schedules, rather than behind, being early is not to be celebrated when it comes to Earth Overshoot Day.

Today is Earth Overshoot Day – a global day that highlights when our demand for ecological resources and services exceeds what the planet can regenerate in a year. It’s an especially sobering occasion in 2025 as the day comes eight days earlier than last year.

It offers a stark reminder that despite the myriad efforts of governments, big business and the public, much more must be done to protect the planet and keep valuable materials in circulation for as long as possible.

As a business focused on extracting value from traditionally difficult-to-handle waste streams, such as Mixed Residual Waste (MRW), Anaerobic Digestion (AD) rejects or washroom waste, we don’t just know that more is possible, we are making it happen.

Turning waste into a commodity as SRF and making it easier to extract valuable recyclate from these waste streams are two of the most seismic and high-value gains of our biotechnology. Our technology can also make these waste streams AT4 compliant, stable and safe for landfill – especially pertinent as the biodegradable waste to landfill ban is set to be introduced in 2026 in Scotland and 2028 in England. These are all highly positive outcomes for waste streams previously deemed worthless.

As Earth Overshoot Day is intended to spark meaningful conversation and change, we must force ourselves to ask the difficult questions and consider what more waste handlers and local authorities can do, not only in terms of investment but also attitude, knowledge and approach.

Here are three actionable lessons for waste handlers and local authorities to take on board.

Be more open to innovation

There are numerous innovative ways to tackle waste that extend beyond the traditional waste to landfill, incineration or recycling. As sending waste to landfill becomes much more expensive and access to incineration more difficult and costly as a result, waste handlers must find alternatives. Innovative solutions are out there – our biotechnology is one such example. However, more broadly, change demands a commitment to doing things differently, including always extracting as much value from waste as possible, whether that’s improving recycling practices, re-evaluating collection routes, trialling new pioneering technologies or choosing to process waste on site.

Make carbon reduction a priority

So many of the directives being introduced by government are centred on dramatically reducing carbon emissions. The task here is to build carbon reduction into operational strategy and to reduce carbon from the waste handling process, as well as from the supply chain.

One key area to focus on is road miles. Recent headlines about Scotland’s waste travelling hundreds of miles to access incineration in England have highlighted the carbon cost of moving waste about. With biotechnology on-site, handlers can reduce the volume and mass of waste by 70% and 50% respectively, which means fewer journeys to offtakers, reduced transport costs and lowered road-related carbon emissions.

Creative new capacity

It takes time for major waste infrastructure projects to come online, and with UK landfill and EfW capacity already seriously struggling – the waste sector needs alternatives and fast. One option is for waste handlers to make their own capacity.

Whether processing MRW, washroom waste, or AD rejects, our biotechnology reduces reliance on incineration and landfill, opening up alternative offtake routes, including the conversion of waste into a commodity as Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF). If waste does still have to go for incineration, volume and mass have been reduced, which means less tonnage, fewer trips and lower costs. And, because our biotechnology process makes waste AT4 compliant, it keeps landfill open as a possibility too.

Earth Overshoot Day will pass in the blink of an eye, but the action it calls for should be lasting. When waste handlers become more open to change and innovation, make carbon reduction central to their business and set about creating new capacity, they’re not only future proofing operations, but also helping to reduce climate change and keep all useful resources in circulation for as long as possible.