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The Commission is proposing a Regulation which will significantly ease the access of organic and waste-based fertilisers to the EU single market, bringing them on a level playing field with traditional, non-organic fertilisers. This will create new market opportunities for innovative companies while at the same time reducing waste, energy consumption and environmental damage.
Commission Vice-President Jyrki Katainen, responsible for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness, said: "Very few of the abundant bio-waste resources are transformed into valuable fertilising products. Our farmers are using fertilisers manufactured from imported resources or from energy-intensive processes although our industry could valorise these bio-wastes in recycled nutrients. This Regulation will help us turn problems into opportunities for farmers and businesses."
The Regulation sets out common rules on converting bio-waste into raw materials that can be used to manufacture fertilising products. It defines safety, quality and labelling requirements that all fertilising products need to comply with to be traded freely across the EU.
Background
The existing Fertilisers Regulation from 2003 ensures free movement on the single market mainly for conventional, non-organic fertilisers, typically extracted from mines or produced chemically. These processes are both energy consuming and CO2-intensive. Innovative fertilising products produced from organic materials are outside of the scope of the current Fertilisers Regulation. Their access to the single market is therefore depending on mutual recognition between Member States, and due to diverging national rules often difficult.
The market opportunities for companies producing organic fertiliser products are significant. Today only 5% of bio-wastes are recycled, but according to estimates they could replace up to 30 % of non-organic fertilisers. Currently, the EU imports around 5 million tonnes of phosphates a year but could replace up to 30% of this total by extraction from sewage sludge, biodegradable waste, meat and bone meal or manure.
Thursday March 17, 2016/ EC/ European Union.
http://europa.eu/rapid
