A draft quality protocol for outputs from anaerobic digestion has been launched for consultation.

The Environment Agency and Waste & Resources Action Plan (WRAP)has published proposals to re-define exactly when anaerobic digestate ceases to be classed as a waste, and as such when it is no longer subject to regulatory control.

The quality protocol involves the introduction of an approved composting standard, know as PAS 100 (see letsrecycle.com story) to be applied to quality digestate, and also advises on best practice for the use of digestate.

As part of the consultation, interested parties are invited to respond to 25 questions relating to several areas of the technology, including the requirements of PAS 100 and the financial impact of the proposed quality protocol.

The draft protocol also considers the use of digestate in two market areas - as a fertiliser or soil improver within agriculture and forestry, and within land reclamation - and their impact on both soil and the environment.

Launching the consultation, which runs until June 27, Dr Richard Swannell, the director of retail and organics at WRAP, claimed that an AD quality protocol would play a vital role in the technology's growth in the UK.

He said: "The development of a quality protocol will help remove a major barrier to deploying this important technology and open up the market for digestate by giving users confidence in the end product."

"In the long-term, greater use of products derived from the AD process could reduce the amount of organic waste being sent to landfill and save producers the associated disposal costs," he added.

Anaerobic digestate is one of 15 materials to be reviewed by the Waste Protocols Project, with public consultations also expected to be launched in the near future on paper sludge ash and gypsum waste (see letsrecycle.com story).

The launch of the consultation comes two months after the government announced a £10 million fund to support the development of commercial-scale demonstration AD plants (see letsrecycle.com story).