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

for 1 h or equivalent process validation), including Belgium, Germany, Italy, the
Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Likewise for manure, the ABP
regulations are followed in Belgium, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, the
Netherlands and Sweden; in the UK the 70ºC for 1 hour standard has to be followed
only where the manure is to be exported from the farm.
Outside of the EU, Canada has a statutory time-temperature regime for compost,
requiring 55ºC for 3 days in an in-vessel composting plant or aerated static pile, and
55ºC for 15 days in open windrow. The USA also requires a temperature of 55ºC, but
for either 5 days in an in-vessel facility or 15 days in open windrow. In Australia, three
turns of the windrow are required, with the requirement that the temperature reaches
55ºC for 3 days prior to each turn.
Physical Impurities
Plastics, metals and glass are the three main impurities limited in compost standards.
The majority of EU countries impose limits of some kind on physical impurities, but
the limits may vary from a combined maximum concentration of plastics, metals and
glass greater than a given particle size (Germany, Latvia and Spain), to individual
limits set for each type of impurity (Austria, Italy).
Land Application
The main restrictions on the use of compost relate to the amount of nutrients and/or
PTEs that can be applied to land in any one year. In Europe, the amount of nutrients is
governed to a large extent by the EU Nitrate Directive, with a maximum application of
170 kg N/ha/y, and 30-40 kg P/ha/y in Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZ) in most
countries. In addition, countries such as Austria, Belgium and Italy are increasingly
taking account of the availability of nitrogen and phosphorus in their application
rates. This would tend to allow higher applications of compost than might otherwise
be the case, for the simple reason that nitrogen in compost is not as readily-available
to plants (or for leaching into groundwater) compared with nitrogen in synthetic
fertiliser.
In a number of countries, restrictions on compost use have also been determined
according to the class of compost produced. For example, in Austria there are three
classes of compost that can be produced:
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� Category 1 material (Biowaste) of A+ quality (lowest heavy metal limits);
� Category 1 material and Category 2 material (quality sewage sludge
determined by heavy metal limits) of A+ and A quality (low heavy metal limits);
and
� Category 3 material (mixed MSW) of Quality B (highest heavy metal limits).
Only the former two classes can be used on agricultural land (with the first class being
suitable for organic farming as well); the final class can only be used for nonagricultural
applications such as landscaping and land reclamation.
Quality Assurance Schemes
In addition to the regulations listed above regarding compost standards, the use of
Quality Assurance Schemes (QASs) within a number of European countries has played
a key role in improving the status of compost in the eyes of the end users. QASs ‘start’
29/09/09