EU outlines composting directive proposals

Cardboard and other biodegradable waste may in the future have to be legally reused, recycled or composted, according to an early version of the European Union’s proposed compost directive. The EU has released a working document on the draft composting directive, termed “biological treatment of waste, 1st draft”. As a general principle to improve the management of biodegradable waste its says six options should be encouraged, with the first being the prevention or reduction of biodegradable waste production. The second calls for reuse of the waste and the next priority (in preferred order) are the recovery of separately collected waste into the original material (for example, recycling paper and card into the papermaking process. The draft advises that members states should encourage the setting up of community composting facilities as a way of involving the general public in the management of their own waste, reducing transport of waste and increasing awareness in waste recycling practices. And, the draft also calls for the encouragement of home and on-site composting for householders and others such as farmers and allotment users. Emphasis is also given on the need for collection schemes for the biodegradable waste so as to avoid contamination of the material. For the full text of the working document: 1st draft, biological treatment of biodegradable waste