Quality assurance of compost and digestate

Abstract

Establishing a quality assurance system for compost and digestate from bio-waste can help to decrease the amount of biodegradable waste being landfilled and to increase material recycling. Germany has been successfully operating such a system since 1989, comprising also an organisation with the competence to control the quality of compost and digestate and to award a quality label, the Bundesgütegemeinschaft Kompost e.V. This brochure introduces to the quality assurance system of compost and digestate in Germany. It provides information, inter alia, on the legal framework related to bio-waste in the EU and in Germany, on involved organisations and on requirements.