The overall vision of the ECN is to Promote the Quality Management and Treatment of Biowastes across Europe. In order to further this, the ECN will carry out a number of activities over the next few years, which are detailed in the working programme below.

1. Support for the development and implementation of a sustainable waste strategy across Europe

The European Compost Network will support common standards through creative, scientifically sound, technically aware assistance with the future European Biowaste Legislation, the related CEN standards and other regulations and developments on the European level.

ECN will work towards:

• Providing scientific support in the development of standards for EU Directives
• Supporting of the standardisation of methods for sampling and analysis (e.g. by CEN)
• Implementing cost effective monitoring systems to assess relevant standards
• Promoting positioning of quality composts and digestion residuals as a products
• Supporting to national bodies in transformation of EU directives into national concepts/regulations
• Demonstrating integrated waste management concepts (composting, anaerobic digestion, mechanical-biological treatment), by showing the benefits of source separation and composting/digestion and mechanical biological treatment versus, landfilling and incineration
• Collating and publishing of European wide standardised data collection and common definitions of terms
• Preparing technical issue papers on various aspects of biowaste management elements to inform the development of the EU Soil Strategy, the European Climate Change Program, the EU Landfill Directive and EU Animal By-Products Regulation

2. Process and Plant Management

Experience has shown that the operation of a composting, digestion and mechanical biological treatment plants can be carried out in many different ways, with examples of both good and bad practices occurring in virtually every country. In order to improve operational practices, the development of good practice guidelines and guidance notes is needed.

The ECN will work towards:

• Providing information on cost effective and efficient separate collection systems
• Developing production standards, taking into account local conditions and constraints regionally supplemented by specific means
• Providing effective solution for sanitation/hygienisation in the plants
• Developing guidance on the management of environmental side effects (e.g. odour/waste water) in organic waste treatment plants
• Disseminating information about innovative and optimised technical solutions (such as those that are efficient, cost competitive, modular etc.…)
• Advising operators about questions on optimal plant management
• Providing information on the clean production and economical operation of plants

3. Quality monitoring of production and product

Quality monitoring systems of the quality standards together with quality management of the plants are needed to foresee and solve upcoming problems like sanitation gaps, odour nuisance etc.

The ECN will work towards:

• Identifying key processing and end product criteria to be used as the basis for continual monitoring
• Identifying voluntary standards and quality assurance that comply with the statutory EU standards
• Standardised sample taking and analysing methods
• Identifying minimum processing requirements
• Developing standardisation of different products made of from compost or digestate
• Developing a European quality assurance system

4. Application and Marketing

Input materials have an impact on the quality of both biogas and compost. Application rates and permitted usage of these products varies considerably across Member States. Their acceptance and use therefore depends upon local constraints and quality criteria.

The ECN will work towards:

• Developing guidance compost application ranges with recommendations for the end use
• Providing information on compost products, the benefits of application as well as innovative developments for fertilising and soil improvement
• Developing guidance on regional markets for organic fertilisers and soil improvers an in addition for specific conditions e.g. desertification and soil conservation
• Providing information on fertilising products which present an acceptable risk to guarantee safe application for the environment, soil, for humans beings, plants and animals and consider food quality respectively food safety
• Identifying requirements for compost sales across national borders
• Developing a manual with compost marketing examples
• Developing guidance on digestion residuals and their quality, safety and use

5. Information Service

The ECN will provide an information service for its members on European research and development on aspects such as the optimisation of separate collection schemes, on issues regarding production, biowaste treatment, plant management and control, as well as and on compost application.

The ECN offers members the following:

• An Internet-Programme
• A News Service
• Newsletter
• Discussion groups in the web
• Collection and Co-ordination of research and development projects
• The Transformation of research results into information useful for the practice
• Workshops, especially for the practitioners
• Continuously updated country reports
• Mapping of European biowaste treatment activities