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International Review of Waste Management Policy - Department of ...

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solid pre-requisite for the production <strong>of</strong> BTPs, including in Flanders (Belgium),<br />

Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden, with sewage sludge also excluded from use<br />

as a feedstock in each <strong>of</strong> these countries.<br />

Potentially-Toxic Elements<br />

As detailed in Table 36-1, the majority <strong>of</strong> countries currently set limits on the amount<br />

<strong>of</strong> cadmium, chromium, copper, mercury, nickel, lead, zinc and arsenic present in<br />

compost. For most countries and most applications <strong>of</strong> compost, the following<br />

combination <strong>of</strong> heavy metals is allowed:<br />

573<br />

� ≤ 4 mg/kg d.m. cadmium<br />

� ≤ 400 mg/kg d.m. chromium<br />

� ≤ 600 mg/kg d.m. copper<br />

� ≤ 4 mg/kg d.m. mercury<br />

� ≤ 100 mg/kg d.m. nickel<br />

� ≤ 300 mg/kg d.m. lead<br />

� ≤ 1500 mg/kg d.m. zinc<br />

� 10-20 mg/kg d.m. arsenic<br />

Regarding PTEs, it is worth noting that following 10 years <strong>of</strong> experience in composting<br />

in the Netherlands, a change in legislation in 2007 resulted in less strict heavy metal<br />

thresholds, with experience instead recognising that nutrient content rather than<br />

heavy metal content was proving the limiting factor on compost use within the<br />

Netherlands. 697<br />

Organic Contaminants<br />

Several countries within the EU have established specific standards associated with<br />

organic contaminants in compost. In Austria and the Czech Republic, these limits<br />

relate to non-agricultural composts only, whereas in Belgium and Denmark the limits<br />

relate to compost/digestate produced from treated biowaste; in Luxembourg, the<br />

guide values are for both fresh and matured compost. Limit values are assigned for<br />

combinations <strong>of</strong> the following contaminants: polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB),<br />

polychlorinated dibenz<strong>of</strong>uran (PCCD/F), dioxins, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons<br />

(PAH), absorbable organic halogens (AOX), hydrocarbons, linear alkylbenzene<br />

sulphonates (LAS), nonylphenol (NPE) and di (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP).<br />

Countries such as Germany, the Netherlands and Italy do not currently impose any<br />

organic-contaminant restrictions on their composts, due to the low levels <strong>of</strong> such<br />

697 F. Amlinger, E. Favoino, M. Pollak, S. Peyr, M. Centemero and V. Caima (2004) Heavy metals and<br />

organic compounds from wastes used as organic fertilisers, Study on behalf <strong>of</strong> the European<br />

Commission, Directorate-General Environment, ENV .A.2,<br />

http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/waste/compost/index.htm<br />

<strong>International</strong> <strong>Review</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Waste</strong> <strong>Policy</strong>: Annexes

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