Organics specifications

Industry specifications

Compost specifications

There are a number of specifications which can be applied to compost. These specifications help to ensure the quality and safety of the compost and composters have to follow strict procedures to ensure specifications are met.

Quality Protocol

In April 2007 the Compost Quality Protocol came into force. The Quality Protocol was developed by the Waste Action & Resources Programme (WRAP), the Association for Organics Recycling (AfOR – previously the Composting Association) and the Environment Agency and applies to compost for use as a product in England and Wales, derived from source-separated, bio-degradable waste.

Everyone that complies with Quality Protocol regulations sees their compost deregulated from a waste to a product.

If composters do not comply with the Protocol, the compost they produce will be considered to be a waste and waste regulatory controls will apply to its handling, transport and application.

The aim of the Protocol, which composters sign up to on a voluntary basis, is to instil confidence about compost as a product amongst buyers. Compost can be used in Scotland as a ‘product’ if it has been certified compliant with PAS 100 (see below), has certainty of market and can be put to use without further recovery. December 2008 figures from AfOR showed that158 of its members are now compliant with the Quality Protocol.

The Protocol also received the approval of the European Commission’s Technical Standards Committee in 2008. This means it is inline with European regulations and Protocol members to trade their product with other members of the EC.

To find out more click here.

The British Standards Institution has developed a Publicly Available specification for Composted Materials (PAS 100: 2005) which sets out a minimum quality level for compost. The PAS 100 requires composters to develop a management system and quality policy to ensure compost is fit for purpose.

The composter must also undertake hazard analysis and critical control point planning and ensure that inputs are restricted to source-separated biodegradable material. All materials being treated and all resulting composts must also be traceable. The AfOR Certification Scheme provides the certification for the PAS 100:2005. Inspection and accreditation is carried out by two independent certification bodies, Check Mate International and Organic Farmers and Growers.

The PAS 100 was originally developed in 2002 and last updated in 2005. It is currently being reviewed again by WRAP, the British Standards Institution, and AfOR with support from the Environment Agency.

To find out more, please visit the WRAP website.

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. The APEX standard is a minimum quality specification for green compost only.

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.

A spokesman for SITA 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.

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:

For more information please visit the APEX website.

Compostable packaging

Some packaging is manufactured to be compostable. There is already a standard which compostable packaging must meet. The standard, EN 13432, was developed in the wake of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive and is recognised by EC countries. The standard ensures that the material is suitable for organic recovery. Currently AFOR is working in partnership with Din Certco, the German certification body, which is responsible for the assessment and certification of packaging that conforms to EN13432.

Materials that are certified compostable are permitted to carry the Seedling Logo, which was originally developed by and is owned by European Bioplastics. This ensures easy identification of compostable packaging. Products with the Seedling logo can only be composted commercially and not in the home.

AfOR is also working on incorporating the Seedling logo into a symbol which will denote packaging which can be composted at home.. A certification scheme for home compostable packaging is being developed.

Digestate specifications

Quality Protocol and PAS 110

The Quality Protocol for digestate was published in January 2009, alongside the PAS 110 specification. Together, they provide criteria which allow the digestate produced by the anaerobic digestion process to escape waste regulation, therefore making it easier for the material to find end markets.

BSI PAS 110 covers all anaerobic digestion (AD) systems that accept source-segregated biowastes.

It specifies:

• Controls on input materials and the management system for the process of anaerobic digestion and associated technologies
• Minimum quality of whole digestate, separated fibre and separated liquor
• Information that is required to be supplied to the digestate recipient

To find out more about the quality protocol for digestate, click here and to find out more about PAS 110, click here. 

letsrecycle.com price specifications

letsrecycle.com provides three prices to indicate trends in the cost of UK composting and anaerobic digestion.

The first is the typical gate fee paid by a local authority or contractor to deposit green waste at a composting facility. This will usually be a negative price, because it is a charge for disposal of the material – the composting company does not pay for the green waste. As composting gate fees can be below landfill prices (which also incur landfill tax) composting can prove a more attractive route for green waste disposal.

The second price has been added since the first in-vessel composting facilities began to gain accreditation from Defra under the Animal By-Products Regulations 2003. It indicates the gate fee at a composting facility for organic waste which may contain catering waste – otherwise known as kitchen waste. This can come from household kitchen waste collections or commercial food preparation premises and it can contain meat and meat by-products – subject to various rules, such as having been fit for human consumption before disposal. This gate fee is more expensive than for green waste because the UK Regulations require such material to be composted in carefully controlled conditions requiring specialist facilities. The price also applies to anaerobic digestion facilities.

The third price is an indication of the amount good quality composts and mulches produced are being sold for.

Composting is typically available in at least three grades: 0-10mm, 0-25mm and 0-40mm.