Commission staff working document accompanying the green paper on the management of bio-waste in the European Union {COM(2008) 811 final}
Date: 2008-12-03
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU environmental policy, environmental law, prevention of pollution, waste management, waste recycling

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 3.12.2008 
SEC(2008) 2936 

COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT 

accompanying the 

GREEN PAPER 

On the management of bio-waste in the European Union 

{COM(2008) 811 final} 

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EU legal instruments regulating the treatment of bio-waste 
Revised Waste Framework Directive1 

The  Directive  requires  that  all  waste  be  treated  in  a  way  that  protects  the  environment  and 
human  health  by  preventing  or  reducing  the  adverse  impacts  of  the  generation  and 
management of waste and by reducing the overall impacts of resource use and improving the 
efficiency of such use. Waste policy has to apply a five-step waste management hierarchy as a 
priority order. Highest priority is given to waste prevention, followed by preparation for re-
use,  recycling,  other  recovery  and  disposal.  Policies  may  diverge  from  the  hierarchy  in  the 
interests of minimizing overall environmental impact. 

In  particular,  the  Directive  sets  a  50%  recycling  target  for  at  least  paper,  metal,  plastic  and 
glass from households - and possibly from other similar origins - to be met by 2020. This can 
work  in  favour  of  bio-waste  recycling  since  bio-waste  is  the  largest  single  fraction  of 
household waste and Member States can include appropriate parts of it in the calculation of 
the 50% target. The target is subject to review by 2014. 

In addition, the Directive envisages the possibility of setting EU-wide “end-of-waste” criteria 
for compost. These can include quality and safety requirements so that composted bio-waste 
is  no  longer  waste  but  a  safe  product,  thus  strengthening  confidence  and  the  market. 
Currently, national rules regarding compost quality and safety and even if compost is product 
or waste differ between Member States (see also Annex II). 

Facilities  for  the  biological  treatment  of  waste  require  a  waste  management  permit.  For 
recovery facilities Member States may derogate from the permit requirements provided they 
ensure  environmentally  sound  waste  management  by  laying  down  general  rules  for  these 
facilities.  Furthermore,  it  will  allow  the  Commission  to  set  minimum  standards  concerning 
health and environment for recovery activities not covered by the IPPC Directive. 

Directive 1999/31/EC on the landfill of waste (Landfill Directive) 

This  Directive  is  a  primary  driver  for  the  better  treatment  of  bio-waste  as  it  requires  the 
diversion of biodegradable municipal waste from landfills to 75% in 2006, 50% in 2010 and 
35% in 2016 of the amount of bio-waste generated in 1995.2 Countries with high reliance on 
landfilling  (over  80%,  including  most  of  the  new  EU12,  but  also  the  UK  and  Greece)  may 
postpone the targets by a maximum of 4 years. 

While  no  requirements  are  set  for  the  management  of  the  diverted  biodegradable  waste  the 
environmental costs need to be taken into account and the costs of landfilling are increasing 
rapidly. 

Directive 1996/61/EC on integrated pollution prevention and control (IPPC Directive) 

This  directive  lays  down  the  main  principles  for  the  permitting  and  control  of  installations 
based on best available techniques (BAT). It currently covers biological treatment of organic 
waste  only  if  it  constitutes  pre-treatment  before  disposal.  In  the  ongoing  revision  the 
Commission has proposed covering all biological treatment of organic waste above a capacity 
of 50 tonnes/day. This will increase the IPPC coverage of composting capacity from 81% to 
89% and of anaerobic digestion from 89% to 99%3. 

1 
2 
3 

Revised Waste Framework Directive (2005/0281(COD)) 
Or in the latest year before 1995 for which standardised Eurostat data is available  
Vito, 2007  

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Waste Incineration Directive 2000/76/EC 

The  incineration  directive  regulates  the  technical  requirements  for  the  operation  of 
incineration  plants,  including  emission  limit  values  for  selected  potential  contaminants  (e.g. 
NOx,  SOx,  HCl,  particulates,  heavy  metals  and  dioxins)  in  order  to  prevent,  as  far  as 
practicable,  negative  impacts  on  human  health  and  the  environment.  It  is  relevant  for  bio-
waste  treatment  as  it  covers  incineration  of  most  of  bio-waste4  (including  mixed  waste 
containing biodegradable fractions). 

Regulation  laying  down  health  rules  concerning  animal  by-products  not  intended  for 
human consumption 2002/1774/EC (The Animal By-products Regulation) 

This Regulation lays down detailed rules for the protection of public and animal health that 
apply  to  the  use  of  animal  by-products  in  biogas  and  composting  plants.  Category  1  and 
Category 2 animal by-products are either excluded from such use or may only be used under 
strict conditions and following processing. Pending the adoption of harmonised requirements 
for  the  processing  of  Category  3  classified  catering  waste,  Member  States  may  adopt  risk 
mitigating national rules for the processing of such material which must be at least equivalent 
to the standards set by the Regulation for the processing of Category 3 material of the same 
nature. 

The Directive on the promotion of cogeneration 

One of the best ways to use energy in an efficient way is by making use of cogeneration of 
electricity  and  heat  (also  known  as  combined  heat  and  power  or  CHP),  thus  limiting  waste 
heat. This is the objective of Directive 2004/8/EC., and it also applies to waste incineration. 
The  heat  developed  in  the  incineration  process  can  be  used  for  district  heating  but  also  for 
industrial purposes, pre-treatment of fuel and for biogas production. In order to calculate if the 
cogeneration  process  is  highly  efficient  under  Directive  2004/8/EC,  harmonised  reference 
values  have  to  be  used  as  defined  in  Commission  Decision  2007/74/EC.  The  list  there 
includes reference values for electricity and heat from solid biodegradable (municipal) waste, 
liquid  biodegradable  waste  and  biogas,  in  order  to  promote  the  use  of  high  efficiency 
cogeneration  with  such  fuels.  A  qualification  as  high  efficiency  cogeneration  may  lead  to 
guarantees of origin for CHP electricity and to (extra) state aid for operators of such units. 
The proposed RES Directive5, repealing Directives 2001/77/EC and 2003/30/EC 

This proposal considers the use of biomass, i.e. the biodegradable fraction of products, wastes 
and residues from agriculture (including vegetal and animal substances), forestry and related 
industries,  as  well  as  the  biodegradable  fraction  of  industrial  and  municipal  waste,  to  count 
towards the renewable energy targets, but leaves it up to Member States to decide how certain 
renewable energy resources are to be supported. In the Commission's estimation, around half 
of  the  EU's  overall  20%  renewable  energy  target  will  be  met  from  bio-energy.  Furthermore 
the  RES  Directive  sets  sustainability  criteria  for  the  use  of  biofuels  and  bioliquids,  while 
encouraging the use of bio-wastes, e.g. cooking oil or bio-methane, for developing so-called 
second-generation  biofuels.  The  RES  Directive  also  foresees  reporting  on  a  need  for 
sustainability criteria for all other uses of biomass for energy purposes.  

4 

5 

The  excluded  fraction  includes  vegetable  waste  from  agriculture  and  forestry  as  well  as  non-
contaminated wood waste 
COM(2008)19 

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Differences in compost policies between the Member States 

Compost policies differ substantially between Member States. The following tables show the 
differences  between  quality  classification  types  of  compost  (table  1),  quality  standards  for 
composts (table 2) and registration regimes (including waste/product differentiation) (table 3). 

Table 1. 
compost standards and legislation. 

Compost  classification  types  and  number  of  classes  adopted  in  national 

Number of classes or categories 

Criterion 

1 

Heavy metals 

BE,  DK,  FR, 
GR,  HU,  LT, 
NL, PL, SE, UK 

Input materials  UK: 

Quality 
compost 
from 
source  separated 
organic waste 

Application 
types 

2 

DE, SK 

3 

4 

AT,  CZ,  ES,  IE, 
SI 

LV 

source 
(1) 
AT: 
separated 
org. 
waste  (2)  sewage 
sludge (3) bark (4) 
mixed  municipal 
solid waste  

BE:  Vegetable, 
Fruit, 
Garden 
compost;  Green 
Waste Compost 

IT:  Green  Waste 
Compost;  Mixed 
(may 
Compost 
include 
sewage 
sludge) 

FI:  Green  Waste 
Compost; 
compost 
digestate 

from 

SI: 
(1) 
Agriculture  –  no 
restrictions 
(2) 
Agriculture  with 
restrictions 
(3) 
Agriculture 
excluded 

(1) 
AT: 
(2) 
agriculture 
landscaping 
(3) 
landfill  coverage 
(4) 
bagged 
compost 

DE:  (1)  compost 
for 
Agric./landscaping 
(2) 
substrate 
compost (3) mulch 
compost 

Stability 

EN 

DE:  (1)  mature 
compost 
(2) 
fresh compost 

IE 

requirement 

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within licensing 

LU  (1)  mature 
compost 
(2) 
fresh compost 

The table include both statutory (legislative) and voluntary standards.  

Source:  ORBIT/ECN,  2008,  Compost  production  and  use  in  the  EU,  Final  report  of  ORBIT  e.V.  /  European 
Compost  Network  ECN  to  European  Commission,  Joint  Research  Centre  (for  more  details  see  table  3  of  that 
report). 

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Table  2:  Maximum,  minimum  and  mean  limit  values  of  potential  contaminants  for 
composts in Europe. 

Limit values for Compost from source separation (BWC & GWC) 
Pb 

CrVI 

Cu 

Ni 

Cr 

Cd 

0.7 

3 

1.4 

min 

max 

mean 

50 

250 

93 

max/min 
4.3 
Limit values for Composts from MSW  

5.0 

min 
max 
mean 
max/min 

3 
20 
8.0 
6.7 

250 
1,000 
473 
4.0 

0 

3 

0.9 

0 
10 
6.7 

Hg 
mg/kg d.m. 
0.2 

3 

1.0 

15.0 

25 
600 
(1,000)* 
143 
(184)* 
24.0 

mg/kg d.m. 
3 
16 
7.1 
5.3 

450 
1,000 
625 
2.2 

10 

100 

47 

10.0 

100 
300 
168 
3.0 

45 

280 

121 

6.2 

200 
800 
456 
4.0 

Zn 

75 
1,500 
(4,000)* 
416 
(587)* 
20.0 

1,000 
4,000 
2,000 
4.0 

As 

5 

50 

23 

10.0 

10 
25 
17 
2.5 

Limits for Cu=1,000 and Zn=4,000 mg kg-1d.m. stem from the Danish Statutory Order on Application 
* 
of Waste Products for Agricultural Purposes where sewage sludge is covered as well as compost. This explains 
the high thresholds.  

Source: ORBIT/ECN, 2008. 

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Table  3.  Compost  registration  or  certification  for  marketing  and  use  under  national 
PRODUCT or WASTE regimes. 

Compost may become a PRODUCT 

Specific  compost  regulation  within  waste  &  environmental 
legislation  
with extensive QM and external approval scheme for compost 

AT 

the  waste  and 
Compost  related  regulation  within 
environmental  legislation  or  based  on  standards  but  with 
simple registration scheme 

LT, FR, SK 

Regulation  within  the  waste  and  environmental  legislation 
rolled out by the way of the licensing procedure 

IE, LU (+ obligatory QAS*); 
UK  (only  with  voluntary 
QAS) ** 

(Simple) fertiliser registration within the fertiliser legislation CZ, ES, FI, GR, HU, IT, LV, 

NL, PL, PT, SI 

Compost remains WASTE 

Waste  –  but 

specific 

compost 

standards 

available

BE/Fl  (+  obligatory  QAS), 
DE (+ voluntary QAS) 

Compost  derived  from  source-segregated  or  ‘residual  waste’ 
animal by-products that does not meet ‘product’ requirements, 
but is spread on land (ABP and waste management licensing 
regulations apply). 

UK 

Waste 

– 

no 

specific 

compost 

legislation

BG,  CY,  CZ,  DK,  EE,  HU, 
MT, PL, RO, SE 

Compost derived from source-segregated, non-ABP bio-waste 
that does not meet ‘product’ requirements or ‘Compost-Like-
Output’  from  Mechanical  and  Biological  Treatment  of 
residual waste that is disposed of (not spread on land). 

UK 

*QAS: Quality Assurance System. 

** In England and Wales this means independent certification to PAS 100 and the QCP (Environment 
Agency, 2007). In Scotland and Northern Ireland this means certification to PAS 100 (BSI, 2005 or an 
equivalent standard) and meeting the other requirements summarised in table 10 of that report. 

Source: ORBIT/ECN, 2008. 

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List of studies and legislation 

Community papers and legislation: 

–  2006/2293(INI)  European Parliament resolution of 13 November 2007 on the Thematic 

Strategy for Soil Protection; 

–  COM(2001) 264 final 

EU  Sustainable  Development  Strategy  (SDS);  Communication 
from  the  Commission  A  Sustainable  Europe  for  a  Better  World:  A  European  Union 
Strategy  for  Sustainable  Development  (Commission's  proposal  to  the  Gothenburg 
European Council) 

–  COM(2005) 666 final 

Thematic  Strategy  on  the  Prevention  and  Recycling  of  Waste 
Communication  from  the  Commission  to  the  Council,  the  European  Parliament,  the 
European  Economic  and  Social  Committee  and  The  Committee  of  the  Regions  -  Taking 
sustainable  use  of  resources  forward  -  A  Thematic  Strategy  on  the  prevention  and 
recycling of waste {SEC(2005) 1681} {SEC(2005) 1682} 

–  COM(2005) 670 final 

Thematic Strategy on the Sustainable Use of Natural Resources, 
Communication  from  the  Commission  to  the  Council,  the  European  Parliament,  the 
European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions - Thematic 
Strategy on the sustainable use of natural resources {SEC(2005) 1683} {SEC(2005) 1684}  

–  COM(2006) 231 final 

Thematic Strategy for Soil Protection; Communication from the 
Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social 
Committee  and  the  Committee  of  the  Regions  -  Thematic  Strategy  for  Soil  Protection 
[SEC(2006)620] [SEC(2006)1165] 

–  COM(2007) 59 final 

Communication  from  the  Commission  to  the  Council  and  the 

European Parliament on the Interpretative Communication on waste and by-products 

–  COM(2008) 19 final 

Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the 

Council on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources COD 2008/0016  

–  COM(2008) 397 final  Communication  from 

the  European 
Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee 
of the Regions on the Sustainable Consumption and Production and Sustainable Industrial 
Policy Action Plan {SEC(2008) 2110} {SEC(2008) 2111} 

the  Commission 

to 

–  COM(96) 557 final 

FOR  REDUCING  METHANE 
EMISSIONS  -  (COMMUNICATION  FROM  THE  COMMISSION  TO  THE  COUNCIL 
AND TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT) 

STRATEGY 

PAPER 

–  Decision 2006/799/EC  The  eco-labels  for  soil  improvers  ;  Commission  Decision  of  3 
November  2006  establishing  revised  ecological  criteria  and  the  related  assessment  and 
verification  requirements  for  the  award  of  the  Community  eco-label  to  soil  improvers 
(notified  under  document  number  C(2006)  5369)  (Text  with  EEA  relevance)  (OJ  L  325, 
24.11.2006, p. 28–34) 

–  Decision 2007/64/EC 

The eco-labels for growing media ; Commission Decision of 15 
December  2006  establishing  revised  ecological  criteria  and  the  related  assessment  and 
verification  requirements  for  the  award  of  the  Community  eco-label  to  growing  media 
(notified  under  document  number  C(2006)  6962)  (Text  with  EEA  relevance)  (OJ  L  32, 
6.2.2007) 

–  Directive 1999/31/EC  Council  Directive  1999/31/EC  of  26  April  1999  on  the  landfill 

of waste (OJ L 182, 16.7.1999, p. 1–19) 

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–  Directive 2001/77/EC  Directive  2001/77/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the 
Council  of  27  September  2001  on  the  promotion  of  electricity  produced  from  renewable 
energy sources in the internal electricity market (OJ L 283, 27.10.2001, p. 33–40) 

–  Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91  The  Organic  Farming  Regulation,  Council  Regulation 
(EEC)  No  2092/91  of  24  June  1991  on  organic  production  of  agricultural  products  and 
indications referring thereto on agricultural products and foodstuffs - (until 31/12/2008); 

–  Regulation (EC) No 834/2007  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  834/2007  of  28  June  2007 
on  organic  production  and  labelling  of  organic  products  and  repealing  Regulation  (EEC) 
No 2092/91 - (as from 1/01/2009) 

Data sources and studies: 

–  ACR+ (2008) 

ACR+ BIOWASTE CLUSTER – Reduction of Municipal Organic 

Waste – Technical Report, Final Draft 

–  AEA, 2001 A. Smith, K. Brown, S. Ogilvie, K. Rushton, J. Bates, Waste Management 

Options and Climate Change, Final report to the European Commission, DG Environment, 
by AEA Technology, 2001 
(http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/waste/studies/climate_change.htm). 

–  BREF Waste Treatment http://eippcb.jrc.ec.europa.eu/pages/FActivities.htm; 

–  Brussels, 2001  APPLYING COMPOST BENEFITS AND NEEDS, Seminar 

Proceedings, Brussels, 22 – 23 November 2001; 
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/compost/seminar.htm 

–  Copenhagen, 2007 

Nordic Council of Ministers: Biowaste. Decision support tool 
for collection and treatment of source-sorted organic municipal solid waste. TemaNord 
2007:602,  

–  COWI 2004 

Preliminary Impact Assessment for an Initiative on the Biological 

Treatment of Biodegradable Waste; 
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/compost/pdf/ia_biowaste_directive_report.pdf 

–  DEFRA 2004 

Review of environmental and health effects of waste management: 

municipal solid waste and similar wastes (DEFRA, May 2004); 
http://www.defra.gov.uk/ENVIRONMENT/waste/research/health/index.htm 

–  EEA 2006  EEA report No 7/2006 on "How much bioenergy can Europe produce without 

harming the environment?"; http://reports.eea.europa.eu/eea_report_2006_7/en 

–  EEA 2007 (1) 

The road from landfilling to recycling: common destination, different 

routes; http://reports.eea.europa.eu/brochure_2007_4/en 

–  EEA 2007 (2) 

Europe's Environment – Fourth Assessment; 

http://reports.eea.europa.eu/state_of_environment_report_2007_1/en 

–  EEA CSI-16 

EEA, Core set of indicators – municipal waste (CSI-16); 

http://themes.eea.europa.eu/IMS/ISpecs/ISpecification20041007131809/IAssessment1183
020255530/view_content 

–  Eunomia 2002 

Economic analysis of options for managing biodegradable municipal 
waste; http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/compost/pdf/econanalysis_finalreport.pdf 

–  EUROSTAT, 2008 

Data downloaded from Environmental Data Centre on Waste 
(especially: Structural Indicators on municipal waste and Waste Statistics Regulation): 

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http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page?_pageid=3155,70491033,3155_70531796&_d
ad=portal&_schema=PORTAL  

–  Favoino, 2002 

E.Favoino: Myth and reality about costs of separate collection schemes 

"The biological treatment of biodegradable waste - Technical aspects", workshop 
proceedings, Brussels, 2002, more presentations at: 
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/compost/presentations/favoino2.pdf 

–  Fowles 2007 

M.Fowles, Black carbon sequestration as an alternative to Bioenergy, 

Biomass & Bioenergy, 31 (2007) 426-432;  

–  Heidelberg 2002  Untersuchungen zur Umweltverträglichkeit von Systemen zur 

Verwertung von biologisch-organischen Abfällen, Teilbericht ifeu-Institut, 
Forschungsprojekt unterstützt von der Deutschen Bundesstiftung Umwelt, 
Veröffentlichung in der Reihe Initiativen zum Umweltschutz Bd. 52, Berlin 2002, cited in: 
Florian Knappe, Regine Vogt: Biomassenutzung im Vergleich Auf emissionsmindernde 
Maßnahmen und eine hochwertige Nutzung kommt es an, Müllmagazin 2/2003, 19-25; 

–  Impact Assessment of Proposal of Directive on Industrial Emissions 

(http://ec.europa.eu/environment/air/pollutants/stationary/ippc/proposal.htm); 

–  JRC, 2007 European Commission, Joint Research Centre (Ed.): Environmental 

Assessment of Municipal Waste Management Scenarios: Part I – Data collection and 
preliminary assessments for life cycle thinking pilot studies; Part II - Detailed Life Cycle 
Assessments; JRC Scientific and Technical Reports, Luxembourg, 2007; 
http://ies.jrc.ec.europa.eu/uploads/fileadmin/Documentation/Reports/RWER/EUR_2006-
2007/EUR_23021_EN.pdf 
http://ies.jrc.ec.europa.eu/uploads/fileadmin/Documentation/Reports/RWER/EUR_2006-
2007/EUR_23021_EN2.pdf 

–  JRC, 2009 Bart Krutwagen; Jaap Kortman; Koen Verbist: Inventory of existing studies 

applying life cycle thinking to biowaste management. Analysis of existing studies that use a 
life cycle approach to assess the environmental performance of different options for the 
management of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste; in: Raffaella Bersani, Rana 
Pant, David W. Pennington (Ed.) European Commission Joint Research Centre, Scientific 
and Technical Report, Italy, 2009 (forthcoming); 

–  Juniper 2005 

Mechanical-Biological-Treatment: A Guide for Decision Makers; 

–  L.de Baere 2008  The practice of dry digestion of organic waste in the European context. 
Workshop "The future of anaerobic digestion of organic waste in Europe" Nuremberg, 
January 2008. 

–  Lehmann, 2007 

Johannes Lehmann, Bio-energy in the black, Ecol Environ 2007, 5(7) 

381-387 

–  ORBIT/ECN, 2008, Compost production and use in the EU, Final report of ORBIT e.V. / 

European Compost Network ECN to European Commission, Joint Research Centre 

–  Vito, 2007  Data Gathering and impact assessment for a review and possible widening of 
the scope of the IPPC Directive in relation to waste treatment activities; Fact sheet E1 
Biological treatment of organic waste – study for DG ENV 

–  WRAP, 2008 

The food we waste, WRAP (2008), at: 
http://www.wrap.org.uk/retail/food_waste/research/the_food_we_waste.html;  

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