2007 has been an exciting year for the composting industry in England and Wales as the Quality Protocol for Compost came into force this April.

All composters dealing with source segregated waste will be effected by the Protocol

The Protocol, developed by the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP), The Composting Association and the Environment Agency for the use of compost produced from source-segregated biodegradable waste, deregulates compost from a waste to a product for all compliant users.

The industry hopes that the Protocol will raise standards of compost production and instill confidence in compost as a product amongst buyers.

The Environment Agency and WRAP are currently rolling out training to ensure all composters are clear about the new regulations.

Producers and users are not obliged to comply with the Quality Protocol. But if they do not, the compost will be considered to be a waste and waste regulatory controls will apply to its handling, transport and application. Further information on regulatory controls is contained in the Environment Agency’s regulatory position statement.

The PAS100 standard is the standard composters need to comply to in order to be accredited under the Quality Protocol. However, many composters also use the Apex certification to prove their compost's quality. Both Apex and Pas100 set stringent standards which make the composting process and compost a more saleable product.

Composting Association Standard (PAS100)

Quality standards enable composters to reach higher end markets for composting such as landscaping.

The British Standards Institution's 'Publicly Available Specification for Composted Materials' (PAS 100) sets out a minimum compost quality baseline, upon which composters should build as appropriate to the product types and markets targeted.

It requires the producer to establish a quality policy and management system to ensure that the compost is fit for purpose. Inputs are restricted to source-segregated biodegradable materials and materials which are composted must be traceable. PAS 100 also requires that customers are provided with information about where the compost was made and guidance on storing, handling and using the compost.

Limit levels of defined parameters: Composting Association

Apex Compost

In summer 2002, a commercial partnership of three of the UK's biggest waste management firms - along with a horticulture firm - launched their own quality mark to coincide with the launch of their new compost brand.

SITA, Cleanaway and Onyx (the latter two are now part of Veolia Environmental Services), as well as Freeland Horticulture, launched Apex compost to reassure the garden centres buying the compost that wherever it had come from in the UK, and whichever company had produced it, it would meet the same high standard. The Apex partnership hoped that their logo would therefore come to be seen as a mark of quality in its own right.

Dr Stephen Wise, SITA's composting manager, explained that a quality standard benefits both local authorities, by proving green waste is being properly recycled as a saleable material, and bolsters the market for compost itself. "Local authorities have got to meet recycling targets and this is a way of demonstrating that green waste is being recycled. And Apex gives me the confidence to know that whenever I set up a new facility or increase the tonnage, I have got a market for the finished product," he said.

The following analysis should be undertaken on the finished compost on a monthly basis for elements and once a quarter for other parameters and impurities in order to meet the Apex specification:

Limit levels of defined parameters - APEX